Diallo delivers strong start, win for Canada after late entry into Madrid Open main draw
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Montreal's Gabriel Diallo made the most of a last-minute spot in the Madrid Open, beating Belgium's Zizou Bergs 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round on Thursday in Spain.
Diallo entered the main draw as a replacement for Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka, who withdrew before the tournament.
Diallo didn't face a break point and won 86 per cent of his first-serve points. He converted all four of his break chances and won 19 points on return.
It was a strong response after falling to Croatia's Borna Coric 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the final round of qualifying on Wednesday.
Diallo will next face fellow lucky loser Kamil Majchrzak, who replaced two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz after the second-seeded Spaniard withdrew Thursday with a muscle injury.
Later Thursday, 25th-seeded Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., was scheduled to face Ann Li of the United States.
Alcaraz cites 'demanding sport' for withdrawal
Home-crowd favourite Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open on Thursday because of muscle injuries, saying he didn't want to risk making things worse before the French Open.
The third-ranked Spaniard blamed his injuries on the "really tight" schedule that is part of the "demanding sport" of tennis.
Alcaraz said he did "everything possible to play" but had to make the "tough decision" to withdraw after listening to his body and talking to doctors.
"Madrid is one of the special tournaments for me, it's a tournament that I enjoy, I get to play in front of my fans, it's one of the first tournaments I attended when I was a kid," he said.
Field Level Media reported Alcaraz is hampered by a groin injury.
Ranked No. 3 in the world, he underwent tests to determine the severity of hamstring and groin injuries incurred in the second set of the Barcelona Open final on Sunday. The ATP Tour classified the injury as a right adductor muscle strain.
"In the Barcelona final I felt something in the left hamstring, I didn't think that it was that serious," Alcaraz said Thursday. "I'm really disappointed that I'm not able to play here in Madrid."
Alcaraz, who is 24-5 this season, is shifting his focus to taking the court in Rome and then returning to defend his title at the French Open, which begins May 25.
Alcaraz won the Roland Garros final last year against Alexander Zverev, who has just leapfrogged the former for No. 2 in the world after winning in Munich last week.
"My plan is going to Rome. My mindset is to do everything it takes to be 100 per cent for Rome. I will do some tests at the beginning of next week just to see how it's improved and from that let's see how it's going to be the next days.
"These types of decisions are not easy to make but sometimes you have to think about your health and about what is important. A Grand Slam is a Grand Slam. If I play here, I could make the injuries worse and stop for several months and that's not worth it."
Alcaraz is a two-time champion in Madrid, having won in 2022 and 2023. He was the second seed this week and in the same half of the draw as Novak Djokovic.
The four-time Grand Slam champion has a 24-5 record this year. In addition to Monte Carlo, he won in Rotterdam on hard court in February.
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