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 of the clay-court tournament.
In women's competition, 25th seed Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., was upset 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 by American Ann Li in a second-round match.
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.
Both Li and Fernandez struggled to hold serve, but the American held a 5-4 edge in break points converted.
Li also showed off some power, with eight aces compared to two for Fernandez.
The 22-year-old Fernandez saw her record this season fall to 10-9. She was playing in her first tournament since advancing to the third round of the Miami Open in March.
