Canadian Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Quebec is in the second round of the 2025 Indian Wells Masters 1000 series event. On Thursday, Diallo, the 88th ranked player in the world, upset Zhizhen Zhang of China, the 51st ranked player in the world, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6. In the third set tiebreak, Diallo won 9-7.
The match took place Wednesday and Thursday. It started Wednesday night but was suspended close to midnight Pacific time because of rain. Diallo was a lucky loser, and got into the main draw of Indian Wells because Kamil Majchrzak of Poland withdrew due to a back injury.
On a personal note, I personally attended this match. It was my first time seeing a Canadian player live in an ATP event.
Next up for Diallo in the second round on Friday is France’s Arthur Fils. Diallo won their only prior matchup. That was the second round of the 2024 United States Open, which Diallo won 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Joining Diallo in the second round are three more Canadians. They are Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, and Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal. Shapovalov, Fernandez and Auger-Aliassime got a bye to the second round as they are seeded players and will start on Saturday. Shapovalov will face Australia’s Adam Walton, Auger-Aliassime will face American Jenson Brooksby, and Fernandez will face Jaqueline Cristian of Romania.
