Great Britain's Andy Murray returns a shot to Italy's Lorenzo Sonego during tennis action at the National Bank Open in Toronto, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch
TORONTO – Canada’s Gabriel Diallo won his opening-round match 7-6 (4), 7-5 over Great Britain’s Dan Evans in men’s singles action at the National Bank Open on Tuesday.
The Montreal native never fell behind in the match, although he went through a back and forth first set that saw him consistently have to keep Evans at bay. He picked up set point on an Evans double fault.
In the second set, the 21-year-old Diallo jumped out to a 3-1, then 5-3 lead before Evans came back to tie the set each time. But Diallo closed it out winning the final two games.
The Canadian had eight aces to three double faults and broke on three of his five opportunities. Meanwhile, Evans had eight aces to go along with eight double faults while breaking on two of his four chances.
Diallo will next face Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the second round. The Aussie defeated 11th-seeded Brit Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-4 earlier Tuesday.
In first-round men’s doubles action, Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., and partner Nicolas Mahut of France defeated Canadians Kelsey Stevenson and Benjamin Sigouin 7-5, 6-4 to advance.
The Canadian pairing of Adil Shamasdin and Peter Polansky were also bounced, falling 6-3, 6-2 to Germany’s Tim Putz and Kevin Krawietz.
Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime was scheduled to play later Tuesday against Australia’s Max Purcell.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2023.
