What 6’8” Diallo learned from Eubanks, Raonic | ATP Tour

Features Player

What 6’8” Diallo learned from Eubanks, Raonic

The 22-year-old was unbeaten in five matches en route to the Chicago Challenger title

August 05, 2024

Montreal native Gabriel Diallo grew up watching countryman Milos Raonic hammer aces and crush formidable forehands. Eight tour-level service moves and a rotating forehand have helped Raonic become the highest-ranked Canadian player in history, rising to No. 3 in 2016. Eight years on, the 22-year-old Diallo likes to study the 2016 Wimbledon Champion.

Although the six-foot-eight Diallo’s technique is distinctly different from Raonic’s, the goal remains the same: big man, first strike tennis. The former University of Kentucky standout, who won the title in December 2022, drew inspiration from watching the success of players like his former college teammates, 6’7″ Christopher Eubanks, and 6’5″ Raonic.

“Chris [Eubanks] he’s someone I’ve been compared to a lot, especially in college because I was so tall, so lean,” Diallo told analyst Mike Cation at the Chicago Men’s Challenger. “Chris and I are big servers and we look out for our best.

“For me, the greatest who has ever done it in terms of service plus-one is Milos Raonic. I watched many Milos grow up. I still watch a lot of past shows, from now on. I think watching those types of players really opens my eyes.”

Eight days ago Diallo won the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Chicago, where he fired 17 aces in the final for a five-match unbeaten run en route to his third title at that level.

Gabriel Diallo crowned at Chicago Men’s Challenger.”>
^{Gabriel Diallo is crowned Chicago Men’s Challenger. Credit: Eduardo Cantu}

The Canadian remembers having a light bulb last year. It wasn’t his Davis Cup victory over Lorenzo Musetti or the upset of Daniel Evans in Toronto. Instead, Diallo learned a valuable lesson in a three-set loss to Eubanks on the hard court of the Gwangju Challenger.

Eubanks comes into the three-week run at the South Korean Challenger following a quarter-final run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami, where the American secured a spot in the Top 100. Two months after competing on the nearby courts in South Korea, the former Georgia star Tech University was competing on Wimbledon’s Center Court.

Eubanks captured his first tour-level title in Mallorca and reached the quarter-finals on the grass court.

“I don’t think people realize the hard work he put in before,” said Diallo, the youngest Canadian in the Top 150 of the PIF ATP Rankings. “I remember when he ran in Wimbledon, when I saw it, it made me think of the three Challengers we played on hard courts in South Korea.

“I told my coach [Martin Laurendeau] after the match, ‘Boy, when he started serving and hit his plus-one, there wasn’t much I could do.’ It also opened my eyes to where I could have been at his age, 25, 26. It’s a learning curve and I still have to dip my toes in the water. I’ve been on Tour for a year and a half now.”

Diallo grew up a multi-sport athlete and although several people told him he should play basketball, citing his height as an advantage, the World No. 141 enjoyed tennis very much. He ran, did gymnastics and played handball, which his mother won for the Ukrainian national team.

But this sport that Diallo started at the age of six is ​​now competing on the big stage in his hometown. Diallo faces 16th seed Karen Khachanov in the opening round of Montreal on Tuesday.

Gabriel Diallo will not answer any questions about his level of blindness 😂#ATPChallenger | @TennisCanada pic.twitter.com/xddFtisUIa

– ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) January 25, 2024