Canada’s Diallo into quarterfinals at Madrid Open with upset win over Dimitrov

Gabriel Diallo reacts during his Davis Cup qualifying tennis match against Fabian Marozsan in Montreal on Sunday, February 2, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)

Madrid — MADRID — Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo has advanced to his first Masters-level quarterfinal with a comeback 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-4 fourth-round win over 15th-seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria on Wednesday.

Diallo won the second set in a hard-fought tiebreaker to tie the match 1-1, then made a break in the opening game of the third set stand up.

The 23-year-old Canadian won his first match point after forcing his veteran opponent into an error.

Dimitrov used his big serve to his advantage in the hard-fought second set, firing seven aces over his last three service games and another in the tiebreaker.

But Diallo fought off two match points and won two points on return to go up 8-7 before taking the second set with an ace.

Diallo saved the first match point he faced before scoring two points to knot the tiebreaker at 6-6, but Dimitrov scored the next point on return

The pivotal moment of the first set came in Game 11, when Diallo alternated two double-faults with two aces before Dimitrov prevailed to score the only break of the set at a crucial time.

Both players were strong on serve, with just two breaks in the entire match. Diallo faced just one break point while Dimitrov faced four.

Dimitrov had 14 total aces to Diallo’s eight — an impressive total between the players on the ball-deadening clay surface.

Diallo will next face the winner of a match between sixth seed Alex de Minaur of Australia and 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Diallo’s best-ever run at an ATP 1000 tournament has come with a couple of big breaks. He advanced to the main draw as a lucky loser after coming up short in qualifying and avoided a huge hurdle when Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from their second-round match with an injury.

But he has been full value on the court, beating Belgium’s Zizou Bergs, Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak, former world No. 8 Cameron Norrie of Britain and now Dimitrov.

Diallo entered the tournament with a career-high ATP Tour ranking of 78. His win over Dimitrov will move him up to No. 54, according to the tour’s live rankings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2025.

The Canadian Press