By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday October 18, 2024
Gabriel Diallo is slowly becoming a fixture on the ATP Tour. This summer the Montreal native reached the third round at the US Open – his first trip that far at a major – and he has generally played brilliant tennis since his run to the Chicago Challenger title in July, going 27-7 in his last 34 matches, across all levels.
On Friday the 23-year-old upset second-seeded Alejandro Tabilo from a set down to reach his first ATP semifinal, as he earned his second Top-25 win of the season.
Diallo’s 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory lands him inside the Top 100 of the ATP’s live rankings for the first time. The 6’8” phenom moves like he’s 6’2” but serves as big – or maybe bigger – than his height. He saved three of four break points against Tabilo and won 14 of 20 second serve points.
“I’m excited. It’s been a great week so far,” he said. “I have been able to put some good matches together since the summer. I finished the summer with a good run at the Open, and managed to keep building on that momentum.”
First ATP Tour Semi-Final ✅
Gabriel Diallo upsets the two seed Alejandro Tabilo 3-6 6-3 6-4 to reach the last 4️⃣ in Almaty#AlmatyOpen pic.twitter.com/nBzxveVeOL
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 18, 2024
“I had to dig very hard today,” said the former University of Kentucky standout. “Things weren’t looking good and I managed to flip the match and get the win.”
Diallo did well on return as well, breaking once in the second and once in the third set to pull ahead of the 23rd-ranked Chilean. He will face fourth-seeded Francisco Cerundolo in the semifinals on Saturday.
Karen Khachanove, the No.3 seed, will face Aleksandar Vukic, who upset top-seeded Frances Tiafoe on Friday.
