NATIONAL BANK OPEN

August 1, 2025

Gabriel Diallo

Press Conference

T. FRITZ/G. Diallo

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Gabriel, I'm sorry that the match didn't go your way tonight, but can you please walk us through your assessment of how you thought it went overall.

GABRIEL DIALLO: Yeah, very, very disappointing. It's not one of the outings that you hope for when you're going into a matchup like this, especially against a player like Taylor. You've got to be super sharp, and today I wasn't, so that's why the score turned out this way.

Q. I want to go back to the 1-all in the second set, you're serving, you're up 40-Love, and then Taylor comes back and breaks you. Just curious your thoughts on that game and where it went his way.

GABRIEL DIALLO: Yeah, I mean, did a good job getting on the board beginning of the second, go up 1-0, first time leading in the match, so that was a big game.

Yeah, I mean, up 40-Love on my serve, with courts like this getting broken shouldn't happen. I did a horrendous job on my end.

Yeah, of course it was a big game changer. Now he's up a set and a break, he was serving really well, so I think the match was kind of played there.

Q. Despite the loss, do you take any pride in being the last Canadian standing in the draw this year here in Toronto?

GABRIEL DIALLO: Well, playing like this, not really (laughing). But, yeah, I think it's disappointing that we didn't have a guy perform a little bit deeper in the event.

Like I said, for us to play here is always a privilege, and we always want to do well here. So, the fact that we all lost early is disappointing, but I think in losses we can learn a lot and hopefully come back next year stronger.

Q. You played Taylor now twice in a matter of a few weeks now. What can you take from this experience, and what do you need to do to get to that level?

GABRIEL DIALLO: Yeah, I played him twice, two different matches. One where I played really well, and today where I just didn't manage to play on my front foot, didn't manage to impose my game as I wanted.

Yeah, against a player like that, if you don't show up, and you don't play with your front foot by going forward, applying pressure, and you let him dictate, the result is going to be the one that happened today.

So, you know, just going to have to take some time to watch back the tape and go back on the practice court and get better from there.

Q. Two things, totally separate. You seem pissed. What is it that you're most upset about right now?

GABRIEL DIALLO: I mean, I just feel like I let a lot of people down today. I didn't really have a chance out there. Didn't have a chance to get the crowd going. Yeah, just not the outing that you strive for, honestly, as a competitor. I kind of let him bully me around the court a lot today, and that's not a good feeling.

So, you know, just making it, like I said, I'm going to have to take some time to reflect, watch the tape, and get better from there.

Q. The next time Canadian fans may be able to see you compete would be September in Halifax, if that's a go. Obviously you've had great success in Davis Cup before. Just how vital is it to have that kind of home court advantage, what makes Davis Cup so important to you, if Halifax is going to be in the cards next month?

GABRIEL DIALLO: Yeah, yeah, I'm going, a hundred percent, to Halifax. Yeah, for me Davis Cup is super important. It's probably the most important event during the year.

Playing for your country is something that I don't take for granted. I see it as a privilege to get called up for that. So, you know, always looking forward to those weeks, they give you a little bit of a different perspective than other tournaments.

Yeah, looking forward to going to Halifax. I've never been there, I never played there, so should be exciting.

Q. When you're walking out to center court tonight, how would you describe the emotion, the atmosphere, Friday night, third-round match, big showcase?

GABRIEL DIALLO: I mean, I was amped up, fired up for sure to play. Like I said before, it's one of those matches that you work for. You know, when you work really hard on the practice court, running the extra mile or doing an extra rep here and there, pushing yourself, that's to give yourself the opportunity to play those matches, you know, night session, center court, in your home.

But, yeah, unfortunately today it didn't turn out the way that I wanted it to, but just going to take some time to relax a little bit, watch the tape, and make sure that the next time this opportunity happens we're prepared.

Q. I think it's one thing to watch someone play a top player and to kind of get a sense of what they actually need to be doing to reach that level and to compete at a high level. For you, what is it actually like for you to play someone like a Taylor Fritz on a regular basis, and what are the things that you feel like you need to be doing on a regular basis to compete week-in and week-out against him?

GABRIEL DIALLO: Yeah, like I said, I think the key is to really play with your front foot. Against a guy like him, I think it's whoever can play closer to the baseline and dictate usually is going to have the desired outcome.

We're both guys that like to hit and dictate with our forehand, and today he did a much better job than me. He was able to, yeah, to step in, have some cracks, make me down on my service game, hitting his spots on his serve.

So, yeah, I mean, I think that today I saw what it takes to really get after those guys.