Gabriel Diallo was out of the tournament when he woke up on Thursday morning, but he probably figured to soon find himself in the second round without even playing a match.
As the highest-ranked player in the lucky-loser pool and having already missed out on two spots (which went to Botic van de Zandschulp and Rinky Hijikata), Diallo knew he was in line to take Carlos Alcaraz’s place whenever the Spaniard confirmed his expected withdrawal. However, a wrench was thrown into the equation when Yoshihito Nishioka pulled out before Alcaraz. As such, Diallo went into Nishioka’s spot–in the first round–instead of getting an automatic bye to the second round in place of Alcaraz.
Sure enough, the second-seeded Spaniard withdrew not long thereafter–a spot that then went to lucky loser Kamil Majchrzak.
As a loser in qualifying, though, you will take anything you can get. And what Diallo got was a first-round matchup against Zizou Bergs. That may not be appealing as a bye straight to the second round, but it sure beats being on the next flight out of Madrid. In the end, Diallo made the most of his opportunity and progressed to the last 64 in more satisfying fashion than a bye–by winning. The world No. 78 erased Bergs 6-1, 6-2 in a mere 57 minutes.
Ironically enough, Diallo’s reward is a second-round showdown against none other than Majchrzak…in the exact spot in the draw in which the 23-year-old Canadian would have been if Alcaraz had withdrawn before Nishioka.
This is DiaLLo’s third lucky-loser spot of the spring. He also got into the main draw in both Indian Wells and Miami as a lucky loser.
Bravo to Diallo….and Rublev in 3; Tommy P in 3.
Monfils on clay over most-this time Rublev in three.
And Fonseca in three.
Fons a heavy favorite per the odds
That guy Maj- whatever seems to have a habit of appearing in unexpected places in the draw.
Both my brackets going quite well …pity I had Tauson going far
rarely a good pick. Her movement is so bad.