BURNIE, January 27, 2019
Steven Diez has clinched his first ATP Challenger career title, winning the $54,160 Caterpillar Burnie International. The 27-year-old Canadian beat Maverick Banes of Australia 7-5, 6-1 in Sunday’s singles final.
Diez, who entered the main draw of the hard-court event with his ITF-Ranking and competed in his third ATP Challenger final, capitalized on six of his nine break point chances to secure victory in one hour and 20 minutes.
He’s an #ATPChallenger champion for the first time. Congrats @diezmonge!
The 🇨🇦 takes the title in Burnie, 75 61 over Maverick Banes. pic.twitter.com/DE5UTSr488
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) 27. Januar 2019
The Toronto native with Spanish parents took away $7,200 in prize money as well as 80 ATP-Ranking points.
“It was pretty tough conditions out there and Steven used the wind to his advantage really well, applying pressure the whole time,” Banes said. “I felt like I was on the back foot but I think that was due to him really going after the ball.
“I felt like I was just hanging on in that first set. I tried a couple of different things after that to try and find a way to get through him but it didn’t really work out.”
Earlier in the day, Lloyd Harris from South Africa and Dudi Sela from Israel clinched the doubles title. The unseeded duo fought past Mirza Basic and Tomislav Brkic from Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-3, 6-7(3), 10-8 in one hour and 16 minutes.
