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Gabriel Diallo continued a nice little October roll on Tuesday.

The Canadian downed world No. 72 Christopher O’Connell of Australia 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the opening round of the Almaty Open in Kazakhstan.

The Montreal-born Diallo, ranked 118th in the world, had nine aces, won 84 per cent of points on his first serve and fought off O’Connell’s lone break-point opportunity.

Diallo is coming off a run to the semifinals at a Challenger (lower-level) event in China. The week before, he qualified for the Shanghai Masters.

Diallo, 23, reached the third round of the U.S. Open earlier this year for his first two career Grand Slam wins.

The Canadian faces Borna Coric of Croatia in the second round of the Almaty Open on Wednesday.