Canadians Steven Diez, Brayden Schnur advance in Australian Open qualifying

MELBOURNE, Australia — Canadians Steven Diez and Brayden Schnur won their first-round qualifying matches at the Australian Open on Wednesday before play was halted because of rain in the early afternoon.

Diez, from Toronto, downed Darian King of Barbados 6-2, 6-2.

Schnur, the No. 3 qualifying seed from Pickering, Ont., had to battle back from a set down to beat Austria’s Sebastian Ofner 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Peter Polansky, from Thornhill, Ont., will face France’s Alexandre Muller in a first-round qualifier on Thursday after the match was washed out on Wednesday.

Canada’s Leylah Annie Fernandez was looking ready to advance in women’s qualifying, but had her match suspended in the second set.

Fernandez, from Laval, Que., was leading Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig 6-2, 4-1 when play was stopped. Play will resume on Thursday.

Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., won her first-round qualifier on Tuesday and will face Maddison Inglis of Australia on Thursday.

Players need to win three qualifying matches to guarantee a spot in the main draw.

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil have spots in the men’s main draw.

No Canadian women have spots in the main draw after reigning U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., dropped out because of a knee injury.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020.

The Canadian Press