Gabriel Diallo from Montreal soars up the ATP rankings

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Montreal native Gabriel Diallo is making the most of his wildcard entry into the $50,000 ATP National Bank Granby Challenger.

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Diallo, a 20-year-old senior from the University of Kentucky, advanced to the semifinals on Friday with a 3-6 6-3 7-6(5) victory over Tunisia’s Aziz Dougaz. It was Diallo’s second straight win in a third-set tiebreaker. He defeated No. 7 seed Cedric-Marcel Steve (Germany) on Thursday.

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When the 6.7-foot Diallo won the first round of qualifying at the National Bank Open earlier this month, he was No. 665 in the ATP rankings. Friday’s win moves him to his 443rd spot, and a win over No. 9 seed Hiroki Moriya of Japan on Saturday will put him in the top 400. Moriya defeated No. 5 seed Hugo Humbert of France 7-6 (4) 4-6 7-5.

Diallo is collecting points, but not cash. ATP 50 level semi-finalists earn around US$2,500, but they can’t receive the prize money without jeopardizing their college eligibility.

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The other semi-final will see sixth seed Shang Juncheng (China) take on qualifier Aidan Mayo. Shan defeated No. 3 seed Jordan Thompson of Australia 7-5, 6-4, while Mayo defeated No. 10 Nicolas Mejia of Colombia 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

The final of the WTA 250 National Bank Championship in Granby will see the battle of the dahlias.

No. 1 seed Daria Kasatkina (Russia) will face No. 9 seed Daria Saville (born in Russia but now calls Australia home).

Kasatkina defeated Diane Parry 6-2, 6-0 in Friday’s semi-final. After defeating Canada’s Rebecca Marino in Thursday’s quarterfinal match, Saville received a free pass to the final when Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk was sidelined with a shoulder injury.

phickey@postmedia.com

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