Diallo-2
Canada’s Gabriel Diallo picked up his first win in nearly two months on the ATP Tour, defeating Italy’s Mattia Bellucci in the first round of the Indian Wells tennis tournament.
The 24-year-old from Montreal, ranked No. 38 in the world, beat the 94th-ranked Bellucci 7-6 (5), 6-4 in men’s singles action Wednesday.
Diallo, who had been eliminated in the first round of his previous four ATP tournaments, fired 10 aces and committed just one double fault.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., later beat Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to advance to the second round.
Next up, Diallo will face 17th-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia, while Shapovalov meets 29th-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina.
Elsewhere in the men’s tournament, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., fell 6-3, 6-4 to France’s Gaël Monfils.
In the women’s draw, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., lost 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-1 to Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova.
Andreescu, who won the tournament in 2019, fired 12 aces but committed five double faults and won just 57 per cent of points on her first serve.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., also exited the tournament, falling 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 against Austria’s Anastasia Potapova.