National Bank Open: Canada's Diallo facing down career-defining win

The top two Canadian seeds in the men’s draw were one-and-done at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers. That just leaves the door even more open for Gabriel Diallo to grab the belt as this country’s top male player.

While 21st-ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime and 22nd-seeded Denis Shapovalov both lost their first matches of the event earlier this week, the 27th-ranked Diallo advanced to the Round of 32 at the NBO and has a chance for a career-defining win when he faces American Taylor Fritz on centre court at Sobeys Stadium Friday night in Toronto.

Diallo bested wild-card entry Matteo Gigante of Italy in straight sets on Wednesday night, but the stakes will get much higher when he faces Fritz. The pair met for the first time ever at Wimbledon a few weeks ago and Fritz bested Diallo in the second round with a tough, five-set victory. Fritz advanced to the semifinal at the All England Club before falling to Carlos Alcaraz.

If Diallo can find a way past the NBO’s No. 2 seed — and the No. 4 ranked player in the world — it would signal a real arrival for the 23-year-old Canuck.

While that match will generate a lot of heat, it’s not the only thing to watch on Day 6 of the tournament.

A-listers in action on women’s side

After winning her first match against Guo Hanyu handily, world No. 3 Iga Swiatek will take on Eva Lys of Germany on centre court in primetime at IGA Stadium. Lys, ranked 69th in the world, is on a nice run at the NBO, having already won two matches. Swiatek, of course, is still riding high from winning Wimbledon in mid-July. She also took the 2025 Australian Open crown to give her a pair of victories in majors on the season.

Meanwhile, two prominent Americans are slated for afternoon action. World No. 4 and defending NBO champion Jessica Pegula is on centre court at IGA in the afternoon taking on Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova. Around the same time, world No. 8 Madison Keys will face fellow Yankee Caty McNally.

Finally, another top-ranked American — Amanda Anisomova, the world No. 7 — will close out the night on centre court against Emma Raducanu of Great Britain.

Canadian content

The Canadian duo of Nicolas Arseneault and Justin Boulais will play their first doubles match, taking on Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi and Sander Arends of the Netherlands.

Arseneault, of course, had a decent showing in the singles draw as a qualifier, winning a main-draw match versus France’s Valentin Royer on Sunday before losing to Aussie Alexei Popyrin two days later.

Watch the National Bank Open on Sportsnet The stars of tennis hit the courts in Toronto and Montreal for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers. Catch live coverage of both tournaments on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+. Broadcast Schedule

Broadcast schedule (all times ET)

Women’s Daytime Session: Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+ 12:30 p.m. Evening session: Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet+ 7 p.m.

Men’s Daytime Session: Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet West, Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet+ 11 a.m. Evening session: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet+ 7 p.m.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Women's: Daytime session, 12:30 p.m., Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+; Evening session, 7 p.m., Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet+.

Men's: Daytime session, 11 a.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet+; Evening session, 7 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet ONE.

MATCH SCHEDULE

Women's in Montreal (all times ET)

Centre Court (starts at 12:30 p,m.)

Naomi Osaka (Japan) vs. [22] Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)

Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia) vs. [3] Jessica Pegula (U.S.)

Not before 7 p.m.

Eva Lys (GER) vs. [2] Iga Swiatek (POL)

[5] Amanda Anisimova (USA) vs. Emma Raducanu (GBR)

Rogers Court (starts at 12:30 p.m.)

[16] Clara Tauson (DEN) vs. Yuliia Starodubtseva (Ukraine)

[6] Madison Keys (U.S.) vs. Caty McNally (U.S.)

Not before 6 p.m.

[17] Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) vs. [11] Karolina Muchova (Czechia)

Anna Kalinskaya (Russia) vs. [10] Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)

Court 5 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)

Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan) / Aleksandra Krunic (Serbia) vs. [3] Taylor Townsend (U.S.) / Shuai Zhang (China)

Not before 2 p.m.

Coco Gauff (U.S.) / McCartney Kessler (U.S.) vs. [7] Lyudmyla Kichenok (Ukraine) / Ellen Perez (Australia)

[4] Veronika Kudermetova (Russia) / Elise Mertens (Belgium) vs. Hanyu Guo (China) / Alexandra Panova (Russia)

Court 9 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)

[8] Timea Babos (Hungary) / Luisa Stefani (Brazil) vs. Hao-Ching Chan (Taiwan) / Xinyu Jiang (China)

[Wild card] Peyton Stearns (U.S.) / Marketa Vondrousova (Czechia) vs. Olga Danilovic (Serbia) / Su-wei Hsieh (Taiwan)

Kamilla Rakhimova (Russia) / Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) vs. Caroline Dolehide (U.S.) / Sofia Kenin (U.S.)

Men's in Toronto (all times ET)

Centre Court (starts at 12:30 p.m.)

[6] Andrey Rublev (Russia) vs. [28] Lorenzo Sonego (Italy)

[7] Frances Tiafoe (U.S.) vs. Aleksandar Vukic (Australia)

Not Before 7:00 PM

[27] Gabriel Diallo (Canada) vs. [2] Taylor Fritz (U.S.)

[25] Brandon Nakashima (U.S.) vs. [4] Ben Shelton (U.S.)

Motorola razr Grandstand Court (starts at 11 a.m.)

[20] Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spain) vs .[12] Jakub Mensik (Czechia)

Not before 12:30 p.m.

[15] Arthur Fils (France) vs. [19] Jiri Lehecka (Czechia)

Not before 3 p.m.

Marcelo Melo (Brazil) / Alexander Zverev (Germany) vs. [6] Joe Salisbury (Great Britain) / Neal Skupski (Great Britain)

Not before 5 p.m.

Christopher O'Connell (Australia) vs. [9] Alex de Minaur (Australia)

[13] Flavio Cobolli (Italy) vs. Fabian Marozsan (Hungary)

Court 1 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)

Pedro Martinez (Spain) / Casper Ruud (Norway) vs. [4] Kevin Krawietz (Germany) / Tim Puetz (Germany)

Guido Andreozzi (Argentina) / Sander Arends (Netherlands) vs. [Wild card] Nicolas Arseneault (Canada) / Justin Boulais (Canada)

After suitable rest

Karen Khachanov (Russia) / Andrey Rublev (Russia) vs. Andre Goransson (Sweden) / Sem Verbeek (Netherlands)

Court 4 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)

[8] Hugo Nys (Monaco) / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) vs. Nuno Borges (Portugal) / Tomas Machac (Czechia)

Maximo Gonzalez (Argentina) / Andres Molteni (Argentina) vs. [5] Simone Bolelli (Italy) / Andrea Vavassori (Italy)

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