Quebec’s Gabriel Diallo won the most important match of his career on Thursday when he defeated Frenchman Arthur Fils, 24e seed, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the US Open.
It was Diallo’s second career Grand Slam victory, the first coming against Spaniard Jaume Munar on Tuesday.
Diallo, 143e World player and qualifier, will now face American Tommy Paul, 14e seeded.
The 22-year-old hit 12 aces and won 76% of his first serve rallies. He broke his opponent five times, suffering the same fate twice, in the match that lasted 3 hours 32 minutes.
Diallo is the only Canadian player still in singles competition.
In women’s doubles, Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealander Erin Routliffe got their title defense off to a good start, winning 6-4, 6-2 against Quebec’s Leylah Fernandez and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Favorites, the Ottawa athlete and her partner were broken at the first opportunity of the kind for their rivals.
Dabrowski and Routliffe responded, however, by winning four games in a row against Laval and Putintseva, en route to a victory in 71 minutes.
Earlier this month, Dabrowski and Félix Auger-Aliassime won bronze in mixed doubles at the Olympic Games.
In New York, Dabrowski and Routliffe will face an American-Polish pair, Catherine Harrison and Alicja Rosolska.
Dabrowski will also play in the mixed doubles with Britain’s Joe Salisbury. They will face Finland’s Harri Heliovaara and Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina.