Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
Main draw play got underway properly at the ATP Challenger event in Granby on Wednesday after rain limited results to just three completed matches on Tuesday. More matches were completed by 2 pm on Wednesday than had been in total on Tuesday.
A battle of Canadians led off the day as part of the 10 am slate of matches, with 20-year-old Gabriel Diallo beating countryman Dan Martin in straight sets.
Martin raced out to a double-break lead in the first set and served for the it twice, but from 1-5 down it was all Diallo. The Montreal-native won 11 of the next 12 games, including six in a row to go from 1-5 to 7-5 in the first set, booking his place in the second round with a 7-5, 6-1 win.
Diallo is joined in the second round by countryman Justin Boulais, who defeated Clement Chidekh in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-2. It was a first win in a first match at the Challenger level for Boulais in 2022.
Liam Draxl was unable to join his two countryman in the second round, falling to third seed Jordan Thompson in straight sets.
The Canadian broke Thompson midway through the opening set and served for it at 5-3, holding two set points on his own serve. But Draxl was unable to close it out and was broken again at 5-5 as the Aussie took the opening set.
Thompson rode that momentum through the second set, breaking in the first game and adding two more to move into round two.
There was a major upset in the draw as Jiri Vesely, the highest-ranked player left in the draw, was beaten in three sets by Aidan Mayo 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. After taking the opening set, the Czech was unable to convert any of his six break points in the second and third.
He was broken once in each set as Mayo scored an upset, leaving Thompson as the highest-seeded player left in the draw.
Ugo Humbert is the highest-ranked player left in the top half of the draw after a dominant performance in his opening match against Evan Zhu, The Frenchman needed just 54 minutes to polish off the world No. 313, winning the last ten games of the match to advance.
Having been cut off Tuesday night by the rain during the first-set tiebreak, Maxime Janvier finished off Sekou Bangoura in straight sets. Colin Markes and Ezekial Clark were in the middle of a first-set tiebreak when their match was postponed. Upon restart, Markes took the tiebreak and went on to win in three sets.
The first match to finish on Wednesday was Aziz Dougaz defeating Alafia Ayeni in straight sets. Strong Kirchmeier, Omni Kumar, and Hady Habib also advanced to the second round.
