Peniston takes confidence from flying British flag at Queen's Club
Breakout star Ryan Peniston says he has taken huge confidence from being the last British singles player at the LTA’s cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club.
Peniston - who benefits from the LTA’s NTC Access programme that supports players ranked 100-200 in singles and 31-100 in doubles – marched into the last eight following a three set win over Argentine, Francisco Cerundolo.
His latest win means a sensational week keeps getting better for the 26-year-old, who was only playing his second ATP Tour level match.
Peniston admitted he didn’t expect go further than his peers at the start of the week.
“To be honest I didn’t envisage myself being the last Brit,” said Peniston. “We have such good players in Britain at the moment, at a really deep level.
“But now that I am here, I’ll take huge confidence from this and just try to keep it rolling.
“It’s been a rollercoaster so far, a bit like a dream and I can’t really think of anything that tops it so far really.”
The British ace secured the first set inside just 19 minutes and although Cerundolo fought back in the second, Peniston recovered from a break down in the decider to progress to the last eight.
Following Tuesday’s remarkable win over world No.5 Casper Ruud, this was another landmark success for the Southend star, who is enjoying a perfect week in west London.
Having experienced such an emotional high on Monday, you could be forgiven for thinking Peniston may have come into his second round match struggling for energy.
Instead he relished the challenge.
“Actually, mentally it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be,” revealed Peniston.
“I took a lot of confidence from the win on Monday and just kept to my routine.
“I just went out there today like any other match and yes, it paid off.”
Regardless of what happens over the coming days at The Queen’s Club, Peniston will be at Wimbledon this year, having had his wildcard confirmed earlier this week.
And he revealed that the news has had helped eased the burden on his performances out on the court.
“It (the wildcard) has definitely taken the pressure off,” Peniston added.
“I think because it’s been such a big dream of mine to play there and I think for a lot of the players it’s like that, so when I heard the news it took a lot of pressure off my shoulders.”
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA Website