Canada’s Diallo loses five-set match to No. 5 Fritz in Wimbledon second round

WIMBLEDON — Canada’s Gabriel Diallo battled to force a fifth set against world No. 5 Taylor Fritz, but the American prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-3 to avoid an upset in second-round play at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

Diallo hit 55 winners, five more than Fritz, but the 23-year-old from Montreal was undone by his 50 unforced errors. Fritz, meanwhile, only had 16.

Fritz hit 27 aces, won 80 per cent of his first-service points and claimed 67 per cent on his second serve to win the three-hour, six-minute match.

The 27-year-old went 3-for-11 on breakpoint opportunities. Diallo was more opportunistic, going 3-for-6.

After losing 7-0 in the third-set tiebreaker, Diallo went up a break early in the fourth and held serve to force a deciding fifth.

Fritz took a 4-2 lead with a break in the final set before holding serve the rest of the way. On match point, Diallo sent his forehand into the net.

Diallo, who rolled to a straight-sets victory over Germany’s Daniel Altmaier in his Wimbledon main-draw debut Monday, boasts a career-high No. 40 ranking after winning his first ATP title at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands in June.

Fritz will face the winner of a match between Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain in the third round.

Also Wednesday, the second-round match between Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime and Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff was suspended due to darkness after both players won one set apiece.

Auger-Aliassime, the tournament’s No. 25 seed, lost the second set despite holding triple set point in the tiebreaker, including two opportunities while serving.

Leylah Fernandez made an early exit from the women’s bracket, falling 6-2, 6-3 to unseeded Laura Siegemund of Germany.

The 29th seed from Laval, Que., struggled on serve, landing just 55 per cent of her first attempts and winning 53 per cent of those points. She also double-faulted four times, failed to hit an ace and couldn’t convert any of her three breakpoint chances.

It marks Fernandez’s third straight second-round departure at the All England Club.

Siegemund, ranked No. 104 in the world, will next face sixth-seeded Madison Keys of the United States.

Meanwhile, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand, the No. 2 seeds, opened women’s double play with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over China’s Saisai Zheng and Xinyu Wang.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2025.