Meet Gabriel Diallo, the 23-year-old Canadian sensation who has taken the Madrid Open by storm

Gabriel Diallo, 23, has surprised the tennis world by putting on a stellar show at the ongoing Madrid Open. The young Canadian has reached his maiden Masters 1000 quarterfinal at the Spanish Capital.

2022 was the breakthrough year for Diallo, who won his maiden Challenger Event in Granby after beating Juncheng Shang in the final. He was also a part of the Canadian team that won its maiden Davis Cup title. Diallo played one match at the event, losing to Serbia's Laslo Djere. However, next year, with wins over Lorenzo Musetti and Elias Ymer, Diallo helped Canada to reach the quarterfinals of the 2023 Davis Cup.

In 2024, Diallo had another breakthrough as he reached his maiden career final on the ATP Tour. He reached the final of the 2024 Almaty Open, losing 2-6, 7-5, 3-6 to Karen Khachanov.

However, 2025 had not been smooth sailing for Diallo, as the Canadian had a mere 6-8 win/loss record in the year, and had not been past the second round of any event before the Madrid Open. He lost in the qualifying rounds in the Spanish Capital, but entered the main draw as a lucky loser.

He began his campaign with an impressive straight-sets victory over Zizou Bergs in the first round. In the next round, he won against another lucky loser, Kamil Majchrzak, in three tough sets. Diallo then won against two former top 10 players in Cameron Norrie and Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarterfinals. In both those matches, the Canadian recovered after losing the first set, and in his latter match against Dimitrov, he secured the win after saving three match points.

Gabriel Diallo is on the verge of breaking into the Top 50 with his Madrid heroics

With his performance at the Madrid Open, Gabriel Diallo has made a big jump in the ATP rankings and is on the verge of breaking into the top 50. The 23-year-old is currently sitting on a career-high ranking of No. 54 on the live rankings, 24 spots higher than where he was before the Madrid Open. A win in the quarterfinal will see the Canadian break into the top 50.

Diallo is set to face Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals in the Spanish Capital, with the Italian being in tremendous form after having reached the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters. He has continued the good form in Madrid, as was seen in his dominant win against Alex de Minaur in the fourth round.

However, the head-to-head is tied at 1-1 between Diallo and Musetti as the Canadian got his first marquee victory against Musetti at the 2023 Davis Cup. The Italian, however, won their most recent encounter at the Hong Kong Open this year.

About the author

Sagnik, a Mass Communication and Journalism graduate, is a tennis journalist at Sportskeeda. Before finding his spot in the tennis writing team, he worked as a junior content specialist for academic content writing firms for a couple of years.

Before putting out any information in the public domain, Sagnik makes sure that every element of his content is well-researched and backed with credible data so that there is no misinterpretation of facts or quotes and ethical standards are maintained. To do so, Sagnik follows reputed websites like the Tennis Channel and Tennis TV, and renowned journalists on social media.

He is a fan of former player Roger Federer, and just like his favorite player, Sagnik likes to bring perfection to his write-ups by providing concise and on-point content. Speaking of the ‘GOAT’ debate, Sagnik believes that it is a bit unfair to compare the legends of the game from different eras who have played on different terms. But if he were to pick one, he’d go for Novak Djokovic based on his tally of 24 Grand Slam titles.

When not writing about tennis and technically analyzing the sport, which he believes are his 'forte', Sagnik indulges in reading books.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar