Gabriel Diallo led Canada into the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 win over South Korea's Hong Seongchan in front of 1,925 spectators, including several South Korean fans, on Saturday at the IGA Stadium.

Similar to his match on Friday, which he won in straight sets against Kwon Soonwoo, the 22-year-old Montrealer showed two sides of his tennis personality.

When serving, Diallo was often dominant, particularly in the first set, where he gave up just six points in six games, hit a total of five aces and didn't score a break point.

However, he also made a lot of unforced errors – 64 in the entire game, compared to 36 winners.

One of those unforced errors came in the third game of the second set, which allowed Hong to make up for a break of serve that the South Korean had given up moments earlier in a thrilling game with an 18-point lead.

Diallo's erratic play came back to haunt him in the ninth game of this set when he faced two break points at 4-4.

He saved the first serve with a winning serve, but not the second, which he lost with a half-volley that landed in the net.

The trend continued in the next game. This time Diallo benefited from two break chances, which he missed after two forehand errors. Another error, this time on the backhand, allowed Hong to force a deciding set.

During this third round, Diallo regained his energy. Over the course of his first three service games, he had three aces and conceded just four points.

Most importantly, he got a crucial break in the fourth game when Hong sent a forehand beyond the baseline.

The same scenario repeated itself two games later, giving Diallo a chance to serve with a 5-1 lead for the game. And he didn't miss his chance, winning all four points with his serve, the last with a Hong backhand into the net.

Diallo won the first round thanks to a break in the 12th round^e Game, the only one in the set.

Thanks to a wonderful backhand volley, he initially gained a set point. He took advantage of this opportunity on the next point with a forehand that Hong could do nothing about.

South Korea wins the double

This match between Diallo and Hong became necessary after the tandem of Nam Ji-sung and Song Min-kyu won the doubles that ended Saturday's hostilities in three sets 6-4, 6-7 (4) and 6-3 against Alexis opened Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil.

After conceding the second set in a stunning tiebreak, the South Koreans responded forcefully by breaking Pospisil's serve in the second game of the third set.

Until then, Pospisil had been incisive in his serving, conceding just eight points in six games.

The South Koreans consolidated this break, not without having to save a break point, and were able to build a 3-0 cushion that the two Canadians were unable to erase.

“It's just a shame. I think they performed well in the third set. There was a game where we didn't convert a few balls. “That makes the difference,” Galarneau analyzed.

The Laval resident admitted that his start to the game was a bit difficult and that he felt some nerves.

“Of course it was a bit complicated at the start of the game. “A little bit nervous, a little bit unknown because I haven’t played any competitive games for two months,” explained Galarneau.

“But with the help of Vasek, with the help of the crowd, I think from game to game I started to play better and better and feel a little more comfortable on the pitch again,” he said. -he added.

The game ended when Song, who served efficiently throughout the game, hit an ace.

“This game could have been our last, but I have played with my partner very, very often and we have confidence,” Song said.

“We told ourselves that we would not let the pressure get the better of us and we would play as well as we could,” he added.

To watch in the video