Gabriel Diallo got a second life at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and took full advantage, earning a win in his first Masters 1000 main-draw match of 2025 in three sets over Zhizhen Zhang after stepping in as a lucky loser.
Despite having lost in the final round of qualifying, the Canadian got into the draw at the last minute after Kamil Majchrzak withdrew. He got off to a slow start but eventually found his feet on Wednesday night before the match was postponed due to rain. When they returned on Thursday afternoon, Diallo was able to hold his nerve and saved two match points to score a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(7) win, his first in Tennis Paradise.
Having only gotten the news that he would be playing that evening a couple of hours before the match, Diallo was sluggish to start the opening set. He faced a couple of break points in his first service game and was broken after falling behind love-40 in his second.
Zhang, on the other hand, came out flying and dominated on serve in the opening set. He won his first eight service points in a row and ultimately lost just three points on his own delivery in the opening set. He added a late break to love as he took the first in just 32 minutes.
Read also: ATP Power Rankings – Door Open at the Sunshine Double
Diallo settled in and started to find his rhythm as the second set went along. He had his first chance to break in the sixth game and finally broke at the end of a marathon game to go up 4-2.
The high level Zhang had in the opening set seemed to have evaporated and the Canadian took advantage. Diallo broke again to send the match to a decider and then had a chance to really cement his momentum when he held a break point in the Chinese’s first service game, but Zhang managed to hold to stop Diallo’s run at five games in a row.
Another break point came and went for the Montrealer in the fourth game. At 4-4, rain interrupted play and eventually the match was suspended overnight.
Play resumed nearly 15 hours later on Thursday afternoon. Both men struggled to serve it into a tiebreak, with Diallo saving a couple of break points with big serves before Zhang saved with match points from love-40 down at 5-6 with some huge hitting.
Read also: Tebbutt – Indian Wells is a Cool Place
The first 12 points of the tiebreak went to the server, including Diallo saving a match point at 5-6 with a big serve. Zhang then had a match point on his own serve at 7-6 after the Canadian netted a forehand but Diallo redeemed himself with a huge forehand winner down the line. The Chinese then netted his own forehand to give the Montrealer a first match point on his own serve and this time, Zhang sent a backhand long to send Diallo into the second round.
Next up for Diallo will be a clash with 20th seed Arthur Fils, who the Canadian defeated in their lone previous meeting in the second round of the US Open last year.
Read also: February Mailbag – Guillaume Marx on Canada’s Pro Success and Coaching Future Stars
