![\"Gabriel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/diallo-toronto-2025-portrait.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Player Features
\n Gabriel Diallo is an underdog no more<\/p>\n
Insight from Diallo and college teammate Draxl<\/p>\n
July 29, 2025<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Andrew Eichenholz\/ATP Tour<\/p>\n
Gabriel Diallo, who won his first ATP Tour title this year in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, is a seed at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time in Toronto.
\n By Andrew Eichenholz<\/p>\n
Last July, Gabriel Diallo<\/a> lost in the first round in Newport in straight sets. The Canadian was the No. 165 player in the PIF ATP Rankings and still searching for a breakthrough, but the Canadian remained undeterred. He spent time on the hard courts of the International Tennis Hall of Fame after being eliminated, continuing to work on his game with his coach.<\/p>\n Now Diallo is the World No. 36 and one of the most dangerous players at his home ATP Masters 1000 event, the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers<\/a>. Twelve months on from needing a wild card to enter the main draw in Montreal, Diallo is the 27th seed in Toronto.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the approach is going to be a little bit different compared to the previous years. [I] have to prepare a little bit differently as well,\u201d Diallo told ATPTour.com. \u201cThe last two years I was coming in as a wild card or maybe as an underdog with a little less to lose. Now, obviously, it\u2019s different. I\u2019m seeded, I’m going to have to prepare really well. I am going to have to fight as well as I can. [I\u2019m] really looking forward to it.\u201d <\/p>\n Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/a> and Denis Shapovalov<\/a>, Nos. 28 and 29, respectively, are the top two Canadians in the PIF ATP Rankings. But Diallo is less than 10 spots behind and appears on the rise. The 23-year-old recently won his first ATP Tour title in \u2018s-Hertogenbosch.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been good. Obviously, the ranking has been going up, so [I am] very happy about that. But not only [am I] happy about that, but the level in general,\u201d Diallo said. \u201cThe consistency, the improvements have been very noticeable, so my team and I are very happy about that. Looking forward to continuing in this direction.\u201d <\/p>\n Some players enjoy one huge run that changes the course of their career. For Diallo, that has not been the case. The Canadian has chipped away, earning solid results, with highlights including a run to this year\u2019s Madrid quarter-finals as a qualifier. He also pushed eventual semi-finalist Taylor Fritz<\/a> to five sets in the Wimbledon<\/a> second round.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s moments this year where I felt like things were turning towards the right direction. For sure, the Madrid run was a good week,\u201d Diallo said. \u201cThe run also in \u2018s-Hertogenbosch and even in some losses as well, where I felt like I was going the right direction like against Taylor in Wimbledon<\/a>. So, tough to pinpoint one moment, but it\u2019s been a constant growth and an accumulation of good matches I was able to put together.\u201d<\/p>\n A big difference between Diallo and his countrymen, Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov, is that he did not turn professional immediately after his junior career, instead attending college at the University of Kentucky. The former All-American turned pro before the spring of his senior year. There was plenty of pressure competing in college for his school and teammates, which has prepared him for the environment he faces today.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about managing pressure and expectation. I haven’t felt this amount of pressure and expectation since college,\u201d Diallo said. \u201cI think for me it was at the highest level possible. You have pressure from your teammates, from your coaches, from the school to perform. It\u2019s really a matter of life or death over there. <\/p>\n \u201cSo maybe it\u2019s a little bit too much, but I think it really helped me for the transition to the pros, and I think I can learn a lot from those experiences and bring them in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s tall and maybe a little intimidating on court, but he\u2019s a gentle giant,” Draxl said. “He\u2019s just a super nice, humble dude. Just always a lot of laughs with Gab and he\u2019s just a great guy, that\u2019s what I would say. He\u2019s maybe a lot more gentle than it seems.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753835655_381_it-all-adds-up-banner.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\nLiam Draxl and Gabriel Diallo<\/a>” style=”width:100%;” src=”https:\/\/www.atptour.com\/-\/media\/images\/news\/2025\/07\/29\/21\/24\/draxl-diallo-toronto-2025-portrait.jpg”>
Liam Draxl<\/a> and Gabriel Diallo<\/a> in Toronto. Photo: Andrew Eichenholz\/ATP Tour.
One of his teammates was Liam Draxl<\/a>, who is on the verge of breaking into the Top 100 himself. Diallo is a big-hitting righty who stands 6\u20198\u201d, but Draxl explained there is more to his friend than a big game.<\/p>\n