Canada’s Gabriel Diallo defeated Spain’s Jaume Munar on Tuesday at the US Open to advance to the second round. In his first-ever appearance at the major tournament, this marks his first Grand Slam victory.
The 22-year-old needed four sets to overcome world No. 84 Munar, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Diallo entered the US Open main draw through qualifying.
Meanwhile, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov dropped their opening singles matches.
And on the women’s side, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Quebec, didn’t do much better despite being the 23rd seed in the Grand Slam tourney.
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.
Mensik scored his sixth break in the final game of the match, with Auger-Aliassime committing his 36th unforced error on match point.
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.
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 US 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.
