Gabriel Diallo Earns First Main Draw Win at Roland Garros
PARIS, France– For the first time in his budding professional career, Wildcat legend Gabriel Diallo has won a match at Rolland Garros—the second Grand Slam of the season. The Montreal native who played at Kentucky from 2020-2022 defeated 18-seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
The Canadian Wildcat—who led Kentucky to a NCAA Championship match appearance in 2022—has now won his first round contest at each of the last three Grand Slams, advancing to the third round at the 2024 US Open and second round at the 2025 Australian Open.
Monday’s victory marked the first time in his Grand Slam Career that Diallo has won a best-of-five match in straight sets. Diallo now owns three top 20 wins in his career and two on the 2025 season after the Canadian knocked off No. 16 Grigor Dimitrov as a lucky loser to advance to the quarterfinals at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid.
Currently ranked No. 54 in the ATP Rankings, Diallo has surged over 100 ranking places from No. 166 in the 52 weeks since he qualified for his first Grand Slam Main Draw appearance at Roland Garros in 2024.
The first round matchup was the second head-to-head meeting between Diallo and Cerundolo, with the Kentucky product now owning a 2-0 advantage. In their only prior meeting, Diallo defeated the Argentine 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals of the 2023 Almaty Open to advance to his first ATP Tour final.
An All-American and NCAA Singles Quarterfinalist during his time in Lexington, Diallo seized control late in the opening frame, turning a 5-5 deadlock into a 7-5 set victory. The Canadian recovered from a 0-30 deficit in the 11th game before breaking Cerundolo in the subsequent game.
Despite falling behind a break in the early stages of set two, Diallo immediately responded by breaking back and forcing Cerundolo into an extended service game two games later. The power-serving Diallo kept the pressure going by only dropping three points on serve for the remainder of the set, while also finding a second break of serve to take a two sets to love lead.
In the third set, Diallo continued to control the match by only dropping five service points in what would become the final frame. The two players traded serve until the seventh game, when Diallo was able to win four out of five points to claim an advantage he would not relinquish. In the tenth game of the third set, Diallo won the first three points of the game and, on his second match point, delivered his 27th winner of the match to advance to the second round at Roland Garros for the first time in his career. In the end, Diallo only faced one break point all match and was able to nearly 80 percent of his first serve points.
Diallo will return to the Parisian red clay on Thursday, where the Canadian will await either Marcos Giron of the United States or Tallon Griekspoor of The Netherlands.
For the latest on UK Men’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.
