Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo withdrew from the Almaty Open Tennis Open on Wednesday after losing to Australian qualifier James Duckworth 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 6-4 in the second round in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Duckworth overcame 22 aces from fourth-seeded Diallo and faced no break point in a match that lasted more than two and a half hours.
Diallo’s first serve accuracy rate was as high as 82% and his first serve scoring rate was 74%, but he faced 8 break points. Although Duckworth withstood seven of them, he got a crucial break in the third set to lead 4-3.
Duckworth will face Italian third seed Flavio Coboli in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 event.
This is the first ATP main draw match between the players. Diallo defeated Duckworth in the 2022 National Bank Open Qualifying Tournament in Montreal.
Diallo, ranked 35th in the world, dropped to 28-22 this season.
Later Wednesday, third-seeded Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., faced Leo Borg, son of tennis legend Bjorn Borg, in the second round of the ATP 250 Stockholm Open.
Fourth-seeded Leila Fernandez of Laval, Que., will face Hungary’s Dalma Galfi in the second round of the Japan Women’s Open in Osaka on Thursday (Wednesday night ET).
