Almost a year ago to the day, in the Davis Cup qualifying round, Nam Ji-sung and Song Min-kyu scored a doubles victory that allowed South Korea to begin a spectacular comeback and defeat Belgium after losing the first two singles matches the day before. Gabriel Diallo made sure that Canada was not played the same trick.
Diallo propelled Canada to the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 victory over South Korea’s Hong Seongchan in front of a crowd of 1,925 Saturday, at the IGA stadium.
Diallo thus capped a dream weekend by winning two Davis Cup matches, in his home town of Montreal. On Friday, he defeated Kwon Soonwoo in two sets to give Canada a 1-0 lead.
Vasek Pospisil followed up with a straight-sets victory against Hong.
“It’s very special. It’s home,” Diallo replied when asked to describe what this victory meant to him this weekend.
“The fact that (captain) Frank (Dancevic) is giving me the opportunity to play in front of my family, my friends, all the people in my neighborhood, I’m very grateful. Winning two matches at home with an atmosphere like that is very hard to reproduce, very hard to replicate on the (ATP) circuit. These are moments that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Highs and lows
A bit like during his match on Friday, the 22-year-old Montrealer showed two facets of his tennis personality.
On serve, Diallo was often dominant, particularly in the first set in which he gave up only six points in six games, totaled five aces and faced no break points.
However, he also made many unforced errors – 64 in the entire match, compared to 36 winners.
Diallo’s erratic play came to haunt him in the ninth game of the second set, when he found himself facing two break points on his serve when the score was 4-4.
He saved the first with a winning serve, but not the second, which he lost on a half-volley which ended up in the net.
The trend continued in the next game. This time, Diallo benefited from two break chances, but he wasted them following two forehand errors. Another blunder, this one on the backhand, allowed Hong to force a deciding set.
“At one point in the second (set), I lost my identity a little bit, but that’s part of tennis, that’s part of the experience of a match. You have to be able to manage when you have very good phases. Then when there are phases that are going a little less well, there can be several reasons why. The most important thing is to be able to find the level necessary to win your match, no matter how you play,” explained Diallo.
And that’s exactly what Diallo accomplished in the third round. Over the course of his first three service games, he had three aces and conceded only four points.
Above all, he went for a crucial break in the fourth game to build a 3-1 lead, when Hong sent a forehand beyond the baseline.
The same scenario repeated itself two games later, giving Diallo the chance to serve for the match with a 5-1 cushion. And he didn’t miss his chance, winning all four points on his serve, the last on a Hong backhand into the net.
“I started playing a little more aggressive. I started to go up to the net a lot more, I gave him less time and by giving him less time, it gave me more easy balls,” described Diallo when talking about his game in the third set.
For the South Koreans, Friday’s two singles defeats hurt, according to captain Kim Young-jun.
“We think we played better today, but we have more regrets from yesterday’s matches.”
South Korea wins double
This match between Diallo and Hong became necessary after Nam and Song won the doubles match which kicked off Saturday’s hostilities in three sets of 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 against Alexis Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil.
After conceding the second set in a breathtaking tiebreaker, the South Koreans reacted vigorously by breaking Pospisil’s serve in the second game of the third set. This break was enough for the South Koreans.
“It’s just a shame. In the third set, I think they served well. There was a game where we didn’t convert a few balls. That’s what makes the difference,” analyzed Galarneau.
The Laval resident admitted that his start to the match was a little difficult and that he felt a certain amount of jitters.
“Of course, at the start of the match, it was a little complicated. A little nervousness, a little unknown due to the fact that I hadn’t played competitive matches for two months,” explained Galarneau.
“But with the help of Vasek, with the help of the crowd, I think from game to game I started to play better and better and started to be a little more comfortable on the court again.”
2024-02-04 03:45:10
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