Gabriel Diallo salvages a rough opening day for Canadians at U.S. Open

Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov dropped their opening singles matches at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.

And on the women’s side, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., didn’t do much better, despite being the 23rd seed in the Grand Slam tourney.

But 22-year-old Gabriel Diallo of Montreal opened the evening session in New York City with a brilliant four-set upset over Jaume Munar of Spain in a match that took three hours, 23 minutes to play.

Diallo defeated Munar 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, recording 20 aces along the way. Diallo had 52 unforced errors compared to Munar’s 15, but the Canadian dominated in winners 39-15.

Czechia’s Jakub Mensik posted a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over the 19th-seeded Auger-Aliassime in first-round play while Shapovalov dropped a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 decision to Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands. 

Auger-Aliassime, from Montreal, has had a string of tough results since finishing fourth in men’s singles and teaming with Gabriela Dabrowski to win mixed-doubles bronze at the Paris Olympics.

Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime is out of the U.S. Open after being upset 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 by Czechia’s Jakub Mensik in first-round action Tuesday. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

He was drummed out in the first round of his hometown tournament at the men’s National Bank Open.

Auger-Aliassime also fell in the third round of the Cincinnati Open when his British opponent, Jack Draper, was given the call on match point despite the ball seeming to hit the ground on his side of the court before going over the net.

Shapovalov, a former top-10 player from Richmond Hill, Ont., is currently ranked No. 105 in the world.

Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist, jumped out to an early lead against Russia’s Anastasia Potapova, easily winning the first set 6-2. But the Russian rallied to win the second set 6-4 and won the deciding set 7-5.

Both players had six double faults, while Fernandez had 19 of the 47 unforced errors in the two-hour, 26-minute match.

In other women’s action, 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., was to face fifth-seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the evening draw.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2024