Alex de Minaur has won his first match at Queen's since reaching the final in 2023, overcoming a patchy start to defeat Gabriel Diallo and maintain his promising pre-Wimbledon preparation.
First round defeats to Jiri Lehecka and Lorenzo Musetti the last two years have left him disconsolate and the Aussie No.1 must have feared the worst when he started poorly against Diallo.
Fortunately his opponent was no better with breaks of serve littering the opening set, and once de Minaur shook off the hangover from reaching the final in s'Hertogenbosch at the weekend he eased to victory.
The No.1 seed will now meet another Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who beat British wildcard Dylan Pennington-Jones 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-3)
"A pretty big challenge, by no means the most pretty match, today was all about surviving and advancing," said de Minaur.
