Steven Diez
Encyclopedia
Steven Diez is a Canadian
and former Spanish
professional tennis
player. Raised primarily in and competing for Spain
early in his career, he has since gone on to represent the country of his birth, Canada
, in the Davis Cup
.
In late April he competed in qualifying for a ATP World Tour event, the 2008 Torneo Godó
, losing in the first round to Marc Lopez
. In July in consecutively played Futures he won his first round match, but he failed, in singles, to reach the second round in his last five events of the year. Partnering Valenzuela-Gonzalez, he reached the second round in more events than not during this same stretch. He finished the year ranked World No. 1190 in singles and No. 1274 in doubles.
, and reached the quarter-finals, where he lost to eventual runner-up, Thiago Alves
.
The following week Diez captured his first tour title, that of Spain F23 in singles, defeating David Canudas-Fernandez in the final. His singles wins stopped there as he won only one further tour main draw main for the remainder of the year while losing 8. In doubles however Diez continued to do well not losing in the first round for the year aside from his very first tourney. He finished the year ranked World No. 571 in singles and No. 893 in doubles.
to represent the country of this birth in Davis Cup
. Diez was recruited for his clay court ability as Canada faced Colombia
on red clay in Bogota. Despite breaking the serve in the first game of the match, Diez went down to World No. 93 Santiago Giraldo
in straight sets as Canada lost the tie, 1-4.
In April, Diez finally won a main draw singles match, at Spain F11. He reached the second round in three consecutive events before taking his second title of this career, Spain F15 in May. He then reached the semi-finals in two of his next three events. As one of the top ranked Canadians, Diez received wild cards into events in Canada this summer. After losing in the first round of the 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby
, he qualified for the main draw of the 2010 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open
, but lost in three close sets to Alex Kuznetsov
in the first round. He managed to win a set from Michael Russell
before falling in the first round of qualifying for the 2010 Rogers Cup
in Toronto in early August.
After reaching the semi-finals of Spain F30 the week after the Rogers Cup, and losing in the first round of Belgium F3 the following week, Diez was off from match play until last week, where, as the No. 6 seed at Canada F4, he reached the semi-finals. En route he won his quarter-final match over No. 2 seed Brendan Evans
, 3-6, 6-1, 3-0 retired. In doubles, he and partner Nikolai Haessig, a top Canadian junior, lost in the first round.
The following week Diez was upset in the first round of Canada F5, as the No. 4 seed, to World No. 792 Phillip Simmonds , 2-6, 3-6. He and partner Haessig reached the semi-finals in doubles however. This result saw Steven's doubles ranking reach a new career high the following week, of World No. 769. After two weeks off, he played three consecutive Futures events in Spain, reaching the second round in Spain F37 in Sabadell
, the quarter-finals at Spain F38 in Sant Cugat, and losing in the first round of Spain F39 in Vilafranca del Penedes
. In doubles, he and partner Abraham Gonzalez-Jimenez reached the second round of Spain F37 and lost in the first round of Spain F38. They did not compete at Spain F39.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and former Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
professional tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player. Raised primarily in and competing for Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
early in his career, he has since gone on to represent the country of his birth, Canada
Canada Davis Cup team
The Canada Davis Cup team represents Canada in Davis Cup tennis competition and is governed by Tennis Canada.Canada currently competes in the Americas Zone of Group I. The team's best result came in its first appearance in 1913 when it reached the World Group final, losing to the United States 0–3...
, in the Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
.
2007
Diez competed in the main draw of two senior level ITF Futures tournaments in the autumn, losing both times in the first round. In his first match, at Spain F39 in late October, he fell to World No. 422 Carles Poch-Gradin, 1-6, 0-6. He faired much better a month later taking a set off World No. 425 Juan Albert Viloca-Puig before losing 6-4, 2-6, 1-6.2008
Diez won his first tour match in his third tournament of the year, Spain F11. He won his first ever doubles match too, partnering Ignacio Morente-Gemas to the second round of Spain F13. He then won two matches partnering Javier Valenzuela-Gonzalez to reach the semi-finals of Spain F14. The same pairing reached the semis in their next tournament too, in July, at Spain F26.In late April he competed in qualifying for a ATP World Tour event, the 2008 Torneo Godó
2008 Torneo Godó
The 2008 Open Sabadell Atlántico Barcelona was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 56th edition of the Torneo Godó, and was part of the International Series Gold of the 2008 ATP Tour...
, losing in the first round to Marc Lopez
Marc López
Marc López i Tarrés is a professional male tennis player from Spain, who started playing tennis at the age of 8 years old and became professional in 1999...
. In July in consecutively played Futures he won his first round match, but he failed, in singles, to reach the second round in his last five events of the year. Partnering Valenzuela-Gonzalez, he reached the second round in more events than not during this same stretch. He finished the year ranked World No. 1190 in singles and No. 1274 in doubles.
2009
In his third main draw for the year Diez had a break through in reaching the semi-finals of Spain F5. Two weeks later he reached his first career final, in doubles partnering Jose Checa-Calvo at Spain F7. In June, he competed in his first main draw in an ATP Challenger, as a wild card entrant at the 2009 Open Diputación Ciudad de Pozoblanco2009 Open Diputación Ciudad de Pozoblanco
The 2009 Open Diputación Ciudad de Pozoblanco was a professional tennis tournament played on hard court. This was the tenth edition of the tournament which was part of the Tretorn SERIE+ of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour...
, and reached the quarter-finals, where he lost to eventual runner-up, Thiago Alves
Thiago Alves
Thiago Alves d'Araujo is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He started training in Muay Thai when he was 15 and mixed martial arts at 17. He is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has been described as a "Muay Thai wrecking machine". As of July 2011, He is currently ranked the #10 welterweight...
.
The following week Diez captured his first tour title, that of Spain F23 in singles, defeating David Canudas-Fernandez in the final. His singles wins stopped there as he won only one further tour main draw main for the remainder of the year while losing 8. In doubles however Diez continued to do well not losing in the first round for the year aside from his very first tourney. He finished the year ranked World No. 571 in singles and No. 893 in doubles.
2010
Diez did not win a singles main draw match in his first five events of the year leading into a call-up of sorts by Tennis CanadaTennis Canada
Tennis Canada is the national governing body of tennis within Canada. It works together with the provincial associations to organize tournaments and rules. Tennis Canada also host one ATP Masters Series tournament and one WTA Tier I tournament . The event locations rotate between Montreal and...
to represent the country of this birth in Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
. Diez was recruited for his clay court ability as Canada faced Colombia
Colombia Davis Cup team
The Colombia Davis Cup team represents Colombia in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Federación Colombiana de Tenis.Colombia currently competes in the Americas Zone of Group I and have never competed in the World Group...
on red clay in Bogota. Despite breaking the serve in the first game of the match, Diez went down to World No. 93 Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo Salazar is a Colombian male tennis player from Pereira in Colombia. He plays on the ATP tour and represents Colombia in the Davis Cup competition.-ATP Tour:...
in straight sets as Canada lost the tie, 1-4.
In April, Diez finally won a main draw singles match, at Spain F11. He reached the second round in three consecutive events before taking his second title of this career, Spain F15 in May. He then reached the semi-finals in two of his next three events. As one of the top ranked Canadians, Diez received wild cards into events in Canada this summer. After losing in the first round of the 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby
2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby
The 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby was a professional tennis tournament played on Hard courts. It was the seventeenth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2010 ATP Challenger Tour...
, he qualified for the main draw of the 2010 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open
2010 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open
The 2010 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the sixth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2010 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2010 ITF Women's Circuit...
, but lost in three close sets to Alex Kuznetsov
Alex Kuznetsov
----Alex Kuznetsov is an American tennis player, accomplished in junior tennis. He moved from Ukraine to the US when he was 3 years old...
in the first round. He managed to win a set from Michael Russell
Michael Russell (tennis)
Michael Craig Russell is an American tennis player.Russell is best known for, on two occasions, holding surprise two-set leads in Grand Slam tournaments against former Grand Slam champions before eventually being defeated both times...
before falling in the first round of qualifying for the 2010 Rogers Cup
2010 Rogers Cup
The 2010 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 121st edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2010 WTA Tour...
in Toronto in early August.
After reaching the semi-finals of Spain F30 the week after the Rogers Cup, and losing in the first round of Belgium F3 the following week, Diez was off from match play until last week, where, as the No. 6 seed at Canada F4, he reached the semi-finals. En route he won his quarter-final match over No. 2 seed Brendan Evans
Brendan Evans
Brendan Evans is an American professional tennis player. On the junior circuit, Evans reached a career-high combined ranking of No. 2 in 2004, when he won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open doubles titles alongside Scott Oudesma. Evans competes today on the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP...
, 3-6, 6-1, 3-0 retired. In doubles, he and partner Nikolai Haessig, a top Canadian junior, lost in the first round.
The following week Diez was upset in the first round of Canada F5, as the No. 4 seed, to World No. 792 Phillip Simmonds , 2-6, 3-6. He and partner Haessig reached the semi-finals in doubles however. This result saw Steven's doubles ranking reach a new career high the following week, of World No. 769. After two weeks off, he played three consecutive Futures events in Spain, reaching the second round in Spain F37 in Sabadell
Sabadell
Sabadell is the second largest city in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the comarca, on the River Ripoll, 20 km north-west of Barcelona...
, the quarter-finals at Spain F38 in Sant Cugat, and losing in the first round of Spain F39 in Vilafranca del Penedes
Vilafranca del Penedès
Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca, is the capital of the comarca of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spanish spelling of the name, Villafranca del Penedés, is no longer in official use...
. In doubles, he and partner Abraham Gonzalez-Jimenez reached the second round of Spain F37 and lost in the first round of Spain F38. They did not compete at Spain F39.