LONDON: Australian top seed Alex de Minaur maintained his strong form on the grass as he moved past Canada's Gabriel Diallo into the last 16 at the Queen's Championships on Tuesday.
De Minaur slipped down an early break of service but hit his stride for a 7-6(8) 6-3 victory and set up a clash with another Canadian in the shape of Denis Shapovalov.
Victory snapped a losing run at Queen's for the world number six who had fallen at the first hurdle for the last two years.
"That was a big challenge, it wasn't the most pretty match but today was all about surviving," De Minaur, who reached the final on grass in 's-Hertogenbosch last week, said on court.
"This is my favourite part of the year and I love being in London. Hopefully I can win a lot of tennis matches this grass-court swing."
De Minaur saved two set points in the opening-set tiebreaker and then broke serve in a 15-minute fourth game of the second set to seize control.
Third seed Jacub Mensik's Wimbledon preparations got off to a disappointing start though as the big-serving 20-year-old was out-foxed by wily French left hander Adrian Mannarino, losing a marathon clash 5-7 7-6(3) 7-6(5).
The 37-year-old Mannarino led 5-2 in the opening set only to lose it but gradually wore down the French Open semi-finalist with his unique groundstrokes frustrating the Czech.
He will face British wildcard Arthur Fery next.
Corentin Moutet ended a dismal run of five successive first-round defeats as he tamed fellow Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-7(5) 6-4 7-6(5) in a match that was suspended on Monday because of fading light.
