TORONTO - A glance at the corners of the Court 1 grandstand at the National Bank Open on Thursday told the story of the rising interest in Canadian tennis player Gabriel Diallo.

Spectators who couldn't get a seat for his doubles match were packed in tight between the bleachers and the fence to try to catch a partial glimpse of the six-foot-eight right-hander.

The 23-year-old from Montreal has rocketed to No. 36 in the world rankings and is the last remaining Canadian in the singles draw at the Masters 1000 event. 

"He's not Canada's hope, he's here, man," said American Frances Tiafoe, a top-20 mainstay in recent years. "He's going to win a lot of matches."

Diallo, who recently won his first ATP Tour title in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, will meet second-seeded American Taylor Fritz in the Friday night showcase match at Sobeys Stadium.

It will be a rematch of their second-round battle at Wimbledon a month ago, which Fritz won in a gruelling five sets. 

"I have the level to compete with those (top) guys," Diallo said. "So it was a big eye opener for me and for my team. We're really happy about that match.

"I wish the outcome was a little bit different, but overall (it was) very good and (I'm) looking forward (to) tomorrow." 

Diallo has risen over 100 ranking positions in the last year. He has a booming serve - he touched 223 km/h on the radar gun Thursday - along with powerful groundstrokes, but has other weapons to keep opponents guessing.

"I'm so excited because I think he's not even halfway there yet," said coach Martin Laurendeau. "I mean as much as he's improved and as good as he is right now being ranked 36th in the world, I feel like I've got a notebook full of things that I need to work on with him still. 

"He can improve in so many areas and that's exciting. It's nice to see a learning curve that steep and that quick."

As the No. 27 seed, Diallo had a first-round bye in singles play. He defeated Italian wild-card entry Matteo Gigante in the second round and will have a vocal Centre Court home crowd on his side against Fritz.

"It's going to give me strength and energy," Diallo said. "So I've just got to manage it right and use it at the right moment. 

"Play with courage and be myself in the big moments, which is what you what you need to do against the best players."

The two highest-seeded Canadians - No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal and No. 22 Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., - both lost their openers earlier in the week. 

Diallo and Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., dropped a 7-6 (6), 6-2 decision to American Alex Michelsen and Tiafoe in doubles play. Michelsen was coming off an upset singles win over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy earlier in the day.

Other singles winners included fifth-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark, eighth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway, 11th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov and No. 14 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.

Top-seeded German Alexander Zverev defeated Italy's Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 in the evening session. Australia's Alexei Popyrin defeated tenth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the late match.

The Canadian wild-card duo of Calgary's Cleeve Harper and Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., posted a 7-5, 7-5 win over Americans Evan King and Christian Harrison. 

Play continues through Aug. 7 at the US$9.19-million tournament.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2025.