WHAT HAPPENED: Two evenly matched young players with little experience at majors introduced themselves to a enthusiastic crowd in Stadium 17 with some thrilling shotmaking and winning personalities with qualifier Gabriel Diallo, 22, from Canada, defeating Arthur Fils, 20, from France, in a exciting four-setter, 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4.
The lanky Diallo, at 6-foot-8 and 198 lbs., was playing in only his second major main draw—after losing in the French Open's first round in May—and defeated journeyman clay-courter Jaume Munarin the first round here after coming through qualifying. The No. 24 seed Fils’ ranking—and profile—rose dramatically in the early summer with a fourth-round showing at Wimbledon followed immediately by a stunning run to the title at the ATP Tour Masters 1000 event at Hamburg, where he beat Alexander Zverev.
The two had not played before and spent the first set feeling each other out and, not unusually for players new to majors, trading easy errors in equal portions, though none resulted in breaks until Fils was serving at 5-6 and couldn’t dig out after being down 15-40.
The second set further showed how tight the match was—and how tight the players could be on their serves. At one point, there were four consecutive breaks to run the set to 5-5 before they each held for 6-6. At 3-3 in the tiebreak, Fils produced a flashy move that was reminiscent of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom Fils has said his style most resembles: A close exchange produced a strong lob from Diallo, and Fils scrambled to his backhand corner and pulled off a between-the-legs stroke that Diallo volleyed back, but Fils then put away to a roar from the crowd. With that jolt of energy driving him, he ran off three more points to take the tiebreak, 7-3.
Fils continued his streak to open the third set, winning his serve at love. Diallo finally answered, and the players settled into another stretch of equality, Diallo more steady—moving Fils side to side and up and back—and Fils taking more risks, smacking winners. In the seventh game of the third set, Diallo picked his spots to turn from steadiness to strike force and broke an approaching Fils with a down the line backhand pass to go up 4-3. After each held, Diallo served out the set at love with a closing ace.
Like the third, the fourth set turned again on the seventh game, as Fils got down in the game and succumbed on the second break point. Diallo rode that energy to serve out the final game at love and take the match.
WHAT IT MEANS: Both players proved there’s a deep and entertaining bench behind their already more accomplished peers Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who Diallo could eventually face in Round 4, should he get past Tommy Paul.
Fils has already proven that he can challenge the best when he gets on a streak, and Diallo has shown that he knows how to construct a point and when to deliver power. Both can be inconsistent and need to reduce easy mistakes, but they're well on their way to later rounds of big tournaments in the future.
MATCH POINT: The stats were as even as the match, each with 12 aces, identical first-serve percentages (57%), and close in winners (38 for Fils and 37 for Diallo).
