Former Kentucky men’s tennis standout Gabriel Diallo posts historic run at U.S. Open

A former Kentucky men’s tennis star just wrapped up a historic run at the final major of the year.

Gabriel Diallo — a three-time All-American selection and a key member of the UK men’s tennis squad that reached the NCAA Tournament championship match in 2022 — won five matches during his time at this month’s U.S. Open in New York City before bowing out in the third round of the tournament’s main draw.

Diallo’s five wins at the U.S. Open spanned qualifying and the first and second rounds of the event. The ex-Cat bowed out of the tournament on Saturday evening after a hard-fought, four-set defeat to Tommy Paul, an American star who was the No. 14 seed, in the third round.

Diallo won three matches in four days during qualifying — a run that included fighting off a pair of match points — to make the U.S. Open main draw. This represented just the second main draw appearance at a major for the 22-year-old Diallo, who played at UK from 2019 to 2022.

Earlier this year, Diallo also made the main draw at the French Open and lost a five-set match in the first round of that Grand Slam event.

At the U.S. Open, Diallo (who is from Montreal) topped Spain’s Jaume Munar in the first round in four sets and France’s Arthur Fils in the second round, also in four sets. Fils was the No. 24 seed in the tournament.

That triumph over Fils counted as the fourth top-30 win of Diallo’s career.

As a result of his two main draw wins at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Diallo will pocket $215,000 in prize money for reaching the round of 32.

Diallo was the final Canadian left in either the men’s or women’s singles main draw.

By winning a match at the U.S. Open, Diallo also carved out a distinct piece of Kentucky sports history for himself.

Diallo is the first former UK tennis player to win a match at a Grand Slam event since Jesse Witten in 2009. Witten advanced to the third round of that year’s U.S. Open before losing to the legendary Novak Djokovic.

When he reached the main draw of the French Open in May, Diallo became the first former UK men’s tennis player to make the main singles draw at a major championship since Witten played in the French Open and Wimbledon in 2010.

Gabriel Diallo enjoys pro success after standout UK career

During his time as a Wildcat, Diallo distinguished himself as a top college tennis player. He was an All-American honoree in singles (2021 and 2022) and doubles (2022) and was also a two-time All-SEC selection in 2021 and 2022.

Diallo was part of the Kentucky men’s tennis team that reached the title match of the NCAA Tournament in 2022, which was the Wildcats’ best performance in the national postseason. During that run, Diallo delivered the clinching point for the Wildcats in a national quarterfinal win against top-seeded TCU.

Now as a professional, Diallo is knocking on the door of a top-100 ATP ranking. He will continue his 2024 season in September by representing Canada at the Davis Cup.

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