Gabriel Diallo | The scholar who wants to play tennis

(Toronto) Gabriel Diallo is like a loot bag. You only see him on special occasions, everyone notices him when he walks into a room and no one really knows what’s inside. This learned chess player who could speak Russian could have obtained a master’s degree in almost any field, but he preferred to play tennis.

Diallo is different. He is of his contemporaries and his rivals on the ATP circuit. The Quebecer is not only tall, at 6 ft 8 in. He is also extremely talented, curious and thoughtful. When asked a question, it borrows seconds from time to deliver a sensible answer.

It was only recently that he realized that he was out of tune. “In size, around 17, 18, when I arrived at university. In terms of talent too,” he said, comfortably seated in the media center at Sobeys Stadium, in an interview with The PressSunday morning.

He had just returned from a promotional obligation. That’s why he showed up with a racket in his hand.

But if Diallo is unique, it’s thanks to his desire to be more than a tennis player. The 21-year-old athlete owes this motivation to his parents. “They didn’t want tennis to be my identity, because it will stop at some point,” he explains, wearing a black Adidas jersey.

As a child, Diallo therefore took chess lessons, in addition to participating in tournaments. He also did piano concerts, took ballet lessons, tried gymnastics and practiced swimming.

He is also an avid reader and a great music lover. “My parents made me read, a lot! I also always listened to a lot of music. »

When he was at the University of Kentucky, the Montrealer was studying finance. Another area he is interested in. “Apart from tennis, it has always been important for my parents that I develop several assets and it has created a curiosity in me, which means that I no longer need my parents to be curious. If I’m intrigued by an author or a book interests me, I’ll go find it. It’s very natural”, emphasizes the 140^e world racket.

The fruit of a rich union

Diallo was born to a Guinean father and a Ukrainian mother. His parents met in Russia, during their studies, and they then moved to Montreal a few years before the birth of their son.

“It’s a great diversity, that’s for sure. And also it helps me because I speak Russian and people don’t know it. I can hear people speaking Russian and act like I don’t understand anything, but in secret, I understand everything, ”he slips, not a little proud.

The ties he maintains with his family are essential. “Where we come from is what makes us who we are,” he recalls. His maternal grandmother lives in the family home, in the Quebec metropolis, and his family on the paternal side follows him from Africa.

Even if his family tree extends its roots to two other continents, he finds in the Guinean and Ukrainian cultures of his predecessors a common factor: sharing. “They are very family-oriented, sharing. They have the same values, both on my mother’s and my father’s side of the family. I try to take the best of both worlds, and that gives me who I am today. »

Always in progress

Diallo is part of this new generation of promising players trained by Tennis Canada. If he is 21 the 140^e world player and that he aspires to top 100 before long, it’s certainly because he has a talent that no one doubts anymore. Him first.

Unlike many professional athletes, he was not predestined to experience such a rise.

It was only during his time in the NCAA that he realized he had the potential to earn a living through tennis, especially thanks to the intervention of two teammates in Kentucky.

“In my first year, I was playing in the fourth position [au quatrième rang des meilleurs joueurs de l’équipe], then I was not performing very well. I was not meeting my own expectations, he recalls. And at one point, two of my teammates sat me down after a bad loss to say, “I don’t know if you realize, but you have potential and a talent that we don’t have.” . It opened my eyes. »

So never in his early teens did he think he had the talent to even dream of a career in the world of tennis.

“No, no, no,” he replied, nodding hard enough to make the many gold chains move around his neck.

“At 12, 13, I was among the best in Quebec, top 10, top 8, but I didn’t break anything. There has always been progress, but it took time. »

Until a few months ago, his plan was to finish his studies. “I was going to graduate from college after four years, maybe five, and do a master’s and just see how it was going step by step. Things happened much faster than I could have hoped. »

He is now part of the draw of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time.

He therefore strives to develop his “arsenal of tools as much as possible”, on and off the court, because tennis is part of his life, of course, but tennis is not his whole life.