Diallo, Pospisil give Canada 2-0 lead over South Korea in Davis Cup qualifier in Montreal

Canada is in the driver's seat after a perfect start to its Davis Cup qualifier against South Korea in Montreal.

Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., defeated Hong Seong-chan 6-4, 6-3 on Friday after Montreal's Gabriel Diallo opened with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Kwon Soon-woo, giving No. 2-ranked Canada a 2-0 lead over No. 18 South Korea in the best-of-five event.

The 33-year-old Pospisil, playing in the 33rd Davis Cup tie of his career, improved to 32-25 all-time in tournament play.

Diallo, 22, won his match in one hour 30 minutes in front of 1,829 spectators inside IGA Stadium, including some of the hometown player's family and friends.

Play continues Saturday with Pospisil and Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., scheduled to play doubles against Nam Ji-sung and Song Min-kyu. 

Tennis Canada announced tickets for Saturday were sold out.

Diallo said he cherished the opportunity to play in front of his home crowd.

"It's what I've worked for," he said. "For me, there's no bigger moment than this, I'm from the city, from this neighbourhood, I live seven minutes away and grew up coming [to] practise here."

Despite falling to No. 700 due to injuries, Kwon was a tricky opponent. The former world No. 52 previously upset top Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in Davis Cup play in 2022.

The six-foot-eight 198-pound Diallo — who ranks No. 132 on the ATP Tour — hit 11 aces to Kwon's two and led with 11 winners to five. Diallo had 47 unforced errors while Kwon made 41 in a match filled with mistakes.

The two sets played out in a similar fashion.

Kwon went up a break midway through each set, but Diallo quickly broke back on both occasions to gain momentum.

"The best time to break is right after you've been broken," Diallo said. "It can be tough to