Canada’s Diallo falls in opener, ending Libema Open title defence

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH — Canadian Gabriel Diallo, the defending champion, dropped his opening match at the Libema Open grass-court tournament Tuesday, falling 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to France’s Adrian Mannarino.

Diallo fired seven aces and won 73 per cent of his first-serve points, but Mannarino converted four of nine break-point chances in the two-hour, 30-minute match.

Diallo fell to 6-13 on the season and is projected to slide 30 spots to No. 84 in the ATP live rankings after failing to defend the title he won last year.

The Montreal native remains alive in doubles, where he and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-6, 6-4, 14-12 victory over India’s Yuki Bhambri and Australia’s Matthew Ebden.