(Granby) Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo surprised the seventh seed, the German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, 6-4, 4-6 and 7-6 (2), Thursday, at the Granby National Bank Tennis Championships.
Posted at 10:33 p.m.
The six-foot-seven giant defeated Stebe in two hours and 24 minutes after fending off a match point. He had 10 aces during the duel, en route to a first appearance in the quarter-finals of an ATP Challenger Tour tournament.
The 20-year-old Canadian will look to build on his momentum when he faces Tunisia’s Aziz Dougaz on Friday.
Justin Boulais, the only other Canadian still in contention, suffered a heartbreaking 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(7) loss to Australian Jordan Thompson. The Ontarian dropped three match points against the third seed.
On the women’s side, the Canadian Rebecca Marino bowed to the 10e seeded Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
The Vancouverite was the only Canadian representative to qualify for the quarter-finals.
However after the clash, Kostyuk withdrew due to shoulder pain and allowed Australian Daria Saville to automatically qualify for the final.
The first seed Daria Kasatkina will cross swords with the French Diane Parry for the other place in the title match.
Kasatkina, 10e racket, took the measure of the Spaniard Nuria Parrizas Diaz 6-3 and 6-2.
At the start of the day, Parry needed nearly three hours to defeat Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(4).