GRANBY/STARNBERG, August 28, 2022
It’s been a week of firsts for Canadian Gabriel Diallo, who advances to his first career final on the ATP Challenger Tour. After needing to win third-set tiebreaks in his round-of-16 and quarterfinal matches, Diallo had a much more straightforward victory on Saturday, defeating No. 9 seed Hiroki Moriya of Japan 6-3, 6-4 at the Championnats Banque Nationale de Granby.
The 20-year-old Montrealer, who had never reached an ATP Challenger quarterfinal prior to this week, sent down five aces and won 76 per cent of his first-service points to seal victory in one hour and 34 minutes. Diallo is now a win away from achieving another milestone.
Facing the World No. 519 in the finals will be 17-year-old Juncheng Shang of China. The teenager won his first ATP Challenger crown a few weeks ago at the event in Lexington, United States, and will look to make it back-to-back titles on Sunday. Shang ended the run of US-American qualifier Aidan Mayo with a 6-3, 6-4 win in one hour and 21 minutes. China’s rising star is yet to drop a set in Granby. The singles final is set to start at 1 p.m. local time on Sunday.
9⃣ wins in a row 🔥
🇨🇳 Juncheng Shang defeats Mayo 6-3, 6-4 in Granby to reach his second #ATPChallenger final! pic.twitter.com/ddyhnEn5AL
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 27, 2022
Cash/Patten triumph in doubles
In other action, Julian Cash and Henry Patten were crowned doubles champions. The fourth-seeded Britons beat Frenchman Jonathan Eysseric and Artim Sitak of New Zealand 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and five minutes.
After two triumphs on home soil on grass in Surbiton and Ilkley, Cash and Patten clinched their third ATP Challenger team title. The pair split $3,100 in prize money and earned 80 ATP Ranking points.
