There must be something in the air, an overhanging miasma or cloud of gnats, that prevents Canadian men from banging out their best show-off tennis on home soil.
The National Bank Open is, for all intents and purposes, the Canadian Open by another name, a Masters 1000 event that hasn’t been won by a native son since the open era began in 1968 and not at all since Robert Bédard collected his last of three trophies in 1958. Closest to get there was Milos Raonic a dozen years ago, losing to Rafael Nadal in the final.
On Wednesday evening, on showcase centre court, Félix Auger-Aliassime took it on the chin. Ushered out 6-4, 6-4 by Hungary’s Fábián Marozsán.
That’s Canada’s top seed (21st) punted along with — 24 hours previously — Canada’s second highest seed, Denis Shapovalov (22nd), bounced in his opening match.
- Daniel Rainbird The Canadian Press
This isn’t even an anomaly anymore. Auger-Aliassime hasn’t won a single match at this tournament in three years. His best result was making the quarterfinals in 2022.
“A mix of me and him,’’ Auger-Aliassime said afterward of what determined the downbeat ending. “I mean, I don’t play by myself out there. It’s not like I’m hitting baskets with my coach. You have an opponent who tries to also win and he … just did a little bit better than I did.’’
Auger-Aliassime raced out to an early break and 3-0 lead in the first set of his first match at Sobeys Stadium. Then it started to fall apart for the lanky 24-year-old from Montreal, world-ranked No. 28. But he has a history of big fat splats at the hands of opponents far below his tennis grade. And in Marozsán he was facing someone with a sly, dangerous game.
The 26-year-old Hungarian broke back at 5-4 when FAA double-faulted, wild winds buffeting the court violently. Auger-Aliassime couldn’t wedge a foot in the slamming-shut door. Similarly went up quickly in the second set and had a triple-break opportunity, but Marozsán fought back to hold, then snatched break point at 3-3 with a sassy lob, ultimately closing out the match in an hour and 41 minutes.
“Obviously playing in Canada, it’s more disappointing,’’ Auger-Aliassime admitted. “You want to play as many matches as possible and when you lose an opening match, it’s tough. I’ve been there before in my career, but it never feels better.’’
With compatriot Alexis Galarneau dropping a three-set decision to 13th-seeded Flavio Cobolli, that left Gabriel Diallo as the last Canadian standing from among a septet who had started the tournament, including qualifiers and wild cards.
Perhaps the 23-year-old will crash through that fourth wall, picking up where he left off in a thrilling five-set, second-round loss to American Taylor Fritz — world No. 4 — at Wimbledon and a tour title at s’Hertogenbosch. The hard-charging Montrealer, a strapping six-foot-eight, is enjoying quite the meteoric rise: riding a powerful serve and strong baseline play honed in fast and furious U.S. college tennis, soaring from world-ranked 87th at the start of the year to No. 35 and seeded (for the first time) 27th at this tournament. Two years ago, when the NBO (men) last passed this way, up at York University, Diallo was world-ranked 141 and won his maiden Tour level match.
“Two years ago, if you would have told me that I would have come back here as a seeded player, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.’’
He prevailed in a straight-sets — but not slam-bang — 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Italy’s Matteo Gigante, ranked 125th. “Never easy to play a first round at home … I can speak from a Canadian perspective. We don’t have a lot of opportunities to play at home. So you want to use that opportunity as much as you can and perform.’’
Over-amped, tightly wound, anxious to flash as brightly as a disco ball.
Canadian Gabriel Diallo runs down a return in Wednesday’s straight-sets win in the second round of the National Bank Open in É«É«À².
Steve Russell É«É«À² Star“You have to make sure you don’t step into the other extreme, which is putting too much pressure and expectation on yourself. It’s a fine balance and the equilibrium right in the middle, where you’re in the perfect state of mind.’’
Diallo appeared in firm control until halfway through the second set, when he dipped into a rough patch, seemingly losing his rhythm and having to break back from down 5-2 — 1-10 on break chances through to the 10th game before getting back on serve. He had to serve at 5-6 to stay in the set, sending it into a tiebreak where he triumphed after falling behind 5-3, match point a gimme when the Italian double-faulted.
“Sometimes it’s crazy, the momentum switch that you see throughout a match,’’ continued Diallo. “Things were looking really good, especially after the first set. Early in the second I had a lot of chances to go up a break, didn’t get them, played a poor game to lose my serve. Then all of a sudden it’s looking like we’re going into a third set.
“Tennis can go that fast, especially in conditions like this where it’s super fast, super lively.’’ Meaning the hard court. “You try to stay calm, try to stay composed, try to fix the little damages quickly, stay present in the moment. Yeah, happy that I got to squeak it in two sets.’’
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