By Tony Fairbairn
- Ryan Peniston [WC] def Casper Ruud [1] 7-6(4) 7-6(2)
- Peniston v Francisco Cerundolo | H2H: First meeting
LONDON, ENGLAND – Ryan Peniston earned the biggest win of his career and a maiden ATP victory after stunning Casper Ruud in two tiebreaks and now faces Francisco Cerundolo in the second round at Queen’s Club.
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Ryan Peniston [WC] def Casper Ruud [1] 7-6(4) 7-6(2)
Ryan Peniston earned the biggest win of his career after stunning top seed and Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud in two tiebreaks. Peniston displayed his clean grass-court game early on as he showed impressive athleticism to defend Ruud’s attacking shots as well outsmarting the Norwegian at the net.
The Brit served efficiently throughout the opening set and showed big points on big moments as his baseline game more than matched up with Ruud. Despite this the Norwegian was still resilient and offering attacking patterns of play to fend off Peniston’s attack on return.
After saving seven break points, it was Ruud’s turn towards the end of the set to show bold and aggressive play to earn a break and set point but the world number 180 held his nerve to force an opening set tiebreak. Despite losing the opening two points, Peniston continued to paint the lines with his groundstrokes and outsmart the top seed at the net. The Brit stormed back and a misfired backhand from Ruud saw Peniston clinch the tiebreak 7-4.
In the second set both players continued to serve accurately and fend off each other’s impressive attack on return. However this time it was the more experienced Ruud who showed his quality and broke to love in the seventh game, taking advantage from some unforced errors from the Brit. The break lead didn’t last long though as Peniston continued to work the angles and sealed the break back with a backhand cross-court winner.
Peniston was forced to continue to hold off Ruud’s attack late in the set as the Norwegian was looking more bewildered at the level that the British wildcard was producing. A second set tiebreak was to decide the winner of the set and Peniston continued to outsmart Ruud with clever passing shots and effective point construction. The Brit dominated the tiebreak and sealed victory with a big serve down the T to seal the biggest win of his career and a maiden ATP main draw victory.
Ryan Peniston [WC] v Francisco Cerundolo H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Ryan Peniston [WC] v Francisco Cerundolo | H2H: First meeting |
| ATP Queen’s Club | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: €31,215 |
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Peniston will now face Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the second round, who is still looking for back-to-back ATP main draw wins since reaching the semi-finals in Miami.
Tale of the Tape – Key Stats (2022)
| H2H: | Ryan Peniston (WR 180) | Francisco Cerundolo (WR 46) |
| Tournament Previous Best | QR2 (2021) | N/A |
| 1st Serve % | 60.8 | 63.7 |
| Service Games Won % | 76.7 | 73.3 |
| Break Points Saved % | 61.6 | 59.2 |
| 2nd Serve Return Points Won % | 51.2 | 53.3 |
| Break Points Converted % | 41.5 | 39.8 |
Both players are matched up well with the big challenge for Peniston is converting his break points which is something he couldn’t do consistently against Ruud.
Playing Styles and Prediction
Since reaching the semi-finals in Miami, Cerundolo is yet to win back-to-back matches and will be hoping this week will be the week that changes. The Argentinian has a good baseline game with an effective serve and he will be looking to use that against Peniston on Thursday.
This will be a test of Peniston’s consistency and ability to back up one of the best wins of his career. If the Brit can play like he did against Ruud then he should have enough to win this match but Cerundolo will do everything in his power to make life difficult for the wildcard and expose any nerves or passive play.
Prediction: Peniston in straight sets.
Matteo Berrettini [2] def Dan Evans 6-3 6-3; Botic Van De Zandschulp def Paul Jubb [Q] 7-6(5) 4-6 6-1
However Peniston was the only British winner on day two of Queen’s Club as both Dan Evans and Paul Jubb lost in the opening round. Starting with Evans he was outclassed by Stuttgart and defending champion Matteo Berrettini in a tough draw for the Brit. Evans started the match well and more than matched up to the Italian as he served consistently well and used the slice to neutralise the rallies. The Brit had half chances towards the end of the set to break but it was Berrettini who struck first. The second seed hit some big forehands to seal the break for a 5-3 lead and last year’s Wimbledon finalist saved two break points to clinch the opening set.
That seemed to get Evans frustrated and the world number 31 couldn’t overcome the negative emotions as Berrettini once again broke at the start of the second set. Evans had seven break points in the match but couldn’t convert a single one as the Italian cancelled out the Brit’s impressive returning with big serves and forehands. In the end Berrettini secured a place in the second round with a third break of the match and converted his fourth match point.
As for Jubb he went out in a resilient effort to Botic Van De Zandschulp in three sets. The qualifier started the match well as he broke twice early on with some big hitting and returning as he used his grass court familiarity to his advantage. Despite Van De Zandschulp breaking in the second game, Jubb remained unfazed and for the most part served effectively.
The Dutchman would hit back though in the sixth game as he levelled the second set at 3-3. Both players had chances with Jubb being denied two break points in the seventh game while the Brit had to save set point in the tenth game as the opening set went to a tiebreak. Van De Zandschulp won the crucial points as he took the tiebreak 7-5 to take the opening set.
The second set saw both players more resilient and secure on serve as Van De Zandschulp had the most work to do in fending off Jubb’s attack. In the end though Jubb’s big hitting finally met its rewards as he broke in the tenth game to level the match at one set all.
Eventually though Van De Zandschulp took advantage of Jubb’s inconsistency as the Brit couldn’t keep up his impressive level into the final set. The world number 29 broke three times in the final set as he edged to victory and into the second round.
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