Canada’s Steven Diez advances in Australian Open qualifying

MELBOURNE, Australia — Canada’s Steven Diez advanced to the second round of the Australian Open men’s qualifying draw with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Russia’s Alexey Vatutin on Sunday.

Diez, from Toronto, had five aces and converted six of his 14 break point chances in a match where both players struggled to hold serve.

Vatutin was accurate on just 51 per cent of his first serves, but broke Diez four times on five chances.

Diez will next face 15th-seed Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland.

Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., and Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino were scheduled to play first-round women’s qualifying matches Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2021.

The Canadian Press