Canadian lucky loser Gabriel Diallo upsets world No. 16 Grigor Dimitrov to reach his maiden quarterfinal at the Masters 1000 level in Madrid on Wednesday.
World No. 78 Gabriel Diallo continues his dream run in Madrid by upsetting 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-4 after two hours and 22 minutes in the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, securing his biggest career win at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday evening.
Assessing his performance courtside, Diallo said: “I thought the margins were so thin. It might be the best serving performance I’ve ever displayed in my whole life.
“I was lucky I got the point at 4/6 with [his] loose error, and then I was really confident at 5/6 behind my serve. Then I saved another match point. Tennis is up and down, so you just try and manage. Luckily, I managed to flip and win the match.”
His next challenge will be against the sixth seed Alex de Minaur or world No. 11 Lorenzo Musetti for a place in the semifinals.
A phenomenal match saw the 23-year-old saving three match points on the way to punching his ticket into a maiden Masters 1000 quarterfinal in Madrid.
Dimitrov, 33, hit first, clinching a clinical break in the 11th game before notching the opening set 7-5 in 48 minutes.
An edgy second set unfolded into a tiebreaker, which the young Canadian took, flipping the script from 3-5 down.
Relentless, Diallo pushed forward, fending off three match points to even the scoreboard one set apiece, forcing a final set.
Then, the former world number three dropped serve early in the third set, which proved pivotal for the decider outcome.
Fine margins separated the players throughout the remainder of a high-level contest, a clash of generations.
The Montreal native hit 31 winners against 25 unforced errors, compared to Dimitrov’s 39 and 28.
Moreover, he won 77 percent of the points on his first serve and 64 percent on his second delivery to the Bulgarian 89 and 56 percent, respectively.
Previously, the Canadian rallied for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback victory over Briton Cameron Norrie to set up a round of 16 meeting with Dimitrov.
On Wednesday, Diallo became the first lucky loser to make it through an ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal since Australian Alexei Popyrin at the Cincinnati Open in 2023.
Earlier, world No. 6 Jack Draper sailed past 11th seed Tommy Paul in straight sets in just over an hour, reaching the quarterfinals without dropping a set.
Also, Italian Matteo Arnaldi beat American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5, progressing into the last eight for the first time at the Masters 1000 level on the red clay.
