Davis Cup | Gabriel Diallo loses and Canada trails 1-0

(Málaga) Gabriel Diallo lost 7-6 (5), 6-4 to Daniel Altmaier in the first singles duel in the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday morning, and Canada trails 1- 0 against Germany in this best-of-three series.

This match concluded after one hour and 57 minutes on the cement of the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in Malaga, in the south of Spain.

It was the second career clash between Diallo and Altmaier, after the Quebecer retired while trailing the German 5-2 at the Challenger in Sarasota, Florida, in April 2023.

Diallo was never really in control in this meeting against the 88^e world player. His game lacked poise, and he couldn’t eliminate the trash from it.

The 23-year-old Quebecer thus committed six double faults, compared to just one for Altmaier, not to mention that he committed a total of 40 unforced errors, compared to only 17 for his opponent.

Additionally, the 86^e world player was not opportunistic at crucial moments: he only converted one of his six break points, while his rival stole his serve twice in eight occasions.

The second break of service against Diallo ended the match, which means that Ontarian Denis Shapovalov (no. 56) will absolutely have to beat German Jan-Lennard Struff (no. 43) in the second singles match. on the program a little later today to keep Canada alive in this prestigious men’s team tennis competition.

Then, if necessary, Shapovalov and British Columbian Vasek Pospisil will face Germans Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz in the ultimate doubles match.

Last week, Diallo confided that the duel against Germany was going to be tough. And he wasn’t wrong.

“It’s going to be very difficult. We played them in 2022, and we narrowly won the decisive doubles in three sets, so they have very good players. […] We have work to do, but we are going to prepare well to put the chances on our side,” he summarized.

The winning country of this clash will cross swords in the semi-finals with the Netherlands, who eliminated Spain 2-1 the day before. This setback for the Spaniards also put an end to the professional career of Rafael Nadal, holder of 22 career Grand Slam titles.

Canada is trying to conquer the second Davis Cup in its history, after that of 2022.