DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 21, 2023

Gabriel Diallo

Team Canada

Flash Quotes

O. VIRTANEN/G. Diallo

6-4, 7-5

Team Canada - 1

Team Finland - 1

Q. So tough today. Very different experience to what you had a year ago. Can you tell us what the big difference was today?

GABRIEL DIALLO: First of all, I thought he served well. Played really well behind the serve. Put a lot of pressure on my service games.

Yeah, he got two breaks at the right time in the first and the second, and that's all he needed.

Q. Yet it was still very close. I mean, you got Love-30 on his serve as he was trying to serve it out. Did you feel as though, hang on a second there, there could be a chance here, and if he hit at least one shot long, that's how close it was really?

GABRIEL DIALLO: Yeah, like you said, it was really close. A couple points here and there. Yeah, Love-30, I had two looks to make it Love-40 or to make it 15-40. He stayed tough, and he deserved to win today.

Q. When do you find out that you're going to play? When does the captain say, You're going to be playing and you're second on?

GABRIEL DIALLO: It depends. It depends on the situation. It depends on how some guys feel. Usually it's the night before. Sometimes it depends.

Q. You found out last night?

GABRIEL DIALLO: Yeah. I knew last night that I was going to play. Yeah.

Q. I wanted to know your thoughts about Virtanen. He's an opponent you know from the Challenger Tour, obviously. From the smaller stages, so to say, challengers, and now it's the big stage of Davis Cup. What are your words on his performance?

GABRIEL DIALLO: I mean, yeah, I thought it was nice that we were able to play each other. We know each other well. We're good friends.

Yeah, it's nice that now we played in the big stage, and I hope we can both take experience from this week and bring it back and try to make it to the big stage ourselves.

Q. The atmosphere, how did you feel it was with a lot of Finnish fans here? Obviously with the Canadian crowd that it's always traveling to support you?

GABRIEL DIALLO: Yeah, great crowd. Yeah, they let their presence known, the Finnish. They cheered on their guys like they did the same in the first match, they did it with me, they are going to do it in the doubles.

Yeah, I mean, that's what Davis Cup is all about. Thought it was great.

Q. What experience do you take from this match?

GABRIEL DIALLO: You know, it's an experience. Either you win or you learn. Today I learned. Was exposed to a different type of atmosphere. The crowd was really, really loud and were getting in my face a little bit. I played college, so it's not really an excuse.

Yeah, I think it's a great experience, and it's good that I went through those matches. I think it's going to help me a lot for my career.