Quebec Tennis fans have gotten to know Gabriel Diallo, who came out of his shell this year by breaking into the world top 100.
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His work with Martin Laurendeau bore fruit. The University of Kentucky alum moved up from 139e position at 86e in 2024.
The 6’8″ giant is making progress, but he needs to improve his consistency when he has the ball in his hands, one of his strengths.
“When he plays a little less well, he has difficulty imposing himself on the serve even though he is two meters long. He should stay, even on the worst days, side by side with his opponent,” said Guillaume Marx, vice-president of high performance at Tennis Canada, on Tuesday.
“His qualities of movement, strikes and regularity for someone very tall are still excellent,” he continued.
Three Canadians in the top 100
Diallo thus joined his compatriots Félix Auger-Aliassime (29e) and Denis Shapovalov (56e) in the world top 100, a situation that delights Tennis Canada, whose CEO, Gavin Ziv, was present at the IGA stadium in Montreal for the end of season review.
He also highlighted the country’s more than respectable performances during the team competitions at the Davis and Billie Jean King Cups, in addition to the triumph of Ontarian Gabriela Dabrowski, in doubles with Erin Routliffe, at the Finals of the WTA.
“It’s a major objective for a federation to have three male players in the top 100. It’s something remarkable,” Marx said. Now it must continue, our ambition is stronger. I hope that Gabriel will continue his rise towards the top 50.”
Leylah leads the charge
On the women’s side, Leylah Annie Fernandez is the only representative of the maple leaf among the 100 best rackets in the world. Rebecca Marino is not far away, at 101e level, while the young Marina Stakusic is in 125e place. For the curious, Bianca Andreescu, often injured, is ranked 131e.
“For the first time, we have 10 girls in the top 350,” said Marx, while recognizing that everyone hoped to have a better season in 2025 and improve their ranking.
Best Canadian singles performances in 2024
4e place at the Paris Olympic Games
Finalist at the Madrid Masters
Champion in Belgrade (ATP 250)
Finalist in Almaty, Kazakhstan (ATP 250)
Champion in Tampico, Mexico (WTA 125)
Champion in Midland, USA (WTA 125)
Finalist in Eastbourne, UK (WTA 250)
Finalist in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (WTA 250)
