By Tony Fairbairn
- Ryan Peniston [WC] def Ugo Humbert 6-4 6-2
- Peniston v Holger Rune [2] | H2H: Peniston leads 1-0
LONDON, ENGLAND – Ryan Peniston pounced on an error-prone Ugo Humbert to reach the second round at Queen’s Club where he will face second seed Holger Rune.
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Ryan Peniston [WC] def Ugo Humbert 6-4 6-2
Ryan Peniston is into the second round at Queen’s Club for a second year in a row after a convincing win over Ugo Humbert. Peniston hasn’t had the best season since reaching the quarter-finals at last year’s event but the Brit made a positive start, attempting to break down Humbert’s game. After a few clutch serves from the Frenchman, Peniston converted his sixth break point of the third game to take a 2-1 lead.
As the errors continued to mount for Humbert, Peniston resurrected his confidence and swagger from last year’s Queen’s Club event as he cruised to a double break lead, breaking to love in the fifth game. Although Humbert gained more consistency off the return in the sixth game to gain one of the breaks back, Peniston remained calm and composed as some devastating serves saw him take the opening set with two consecutive love holds.
There was no composure, control or identity about Humbert’s play as Peniston once again worked the angles to break at the start of the second set. The big test of the Brit’s serve came in the fourth game when Humbert provided returning quality and consistency from the baseline. The break was declined by Peniston who failed to concede a break point and then followed that clutch service game with a comfortable break to take a 4-1 lead.
A confident and reassured performance was sealed by converting his first match point and holding to 15 as he booked his place in the second round in a dominant 85 minute display.
Ryan Peniston [WC] v Holger Rune [2] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Ryan Peniston [WC] v Holger Rune [2] | H2H: Peniston leads 1-0 |
| Queen’s Club 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: €32,105 |
| Third on Centre Court (15:00 BST) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
Peniston will now face second seed Holger Rune in the second round with Peniston winning their only meeting at Eastbourne last year.
Tale of the Tape – Key Stats (2023)
| H2H: | Ryan Peniston (WR 265) | Holger Rune (WR 6) |
| Tournament Previous Best | Quarter-Final (2022) | N/A |
| 1st Serve % | 58.7 | 61.5 |
| Service Games Won % | 67.1 | 83.4 |
| Break Points Saved % | 57.2 | 63.3 |
| 2nd Serve Return Points Won % | 52.1 | 51.3 |
| Break Points Converted % | 40 | 40.6 |
Peniston will look to raise his level on serve especially against a consistent and clinical server like Rune.
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Playing Styles and Prediction
Rune is looking to find his feet on the grass with the surface being relatively new to the confident Dane. The second seed gained a good win over Maxime Cressy in the opening round and will look to maintain his good form from Roland Garros having reached the last eight in Paris for a second consecutive year.
Peniston will need to be a lot more aggressive in this match as he will look to make Rune as uncomfortable as possible, testing the Dane’s movement on grass. Meanwhile Rune will look to serve well and ensure that most of the play goes onto his deadly and aggressive forehand. This will be a good match with Peniston set to test Rune’s power game on the second seed’s least comfortable surface. However Rune should have too much quality and consistency for the Brit in this match.
Prediction: Rune in three sets.
Lorenzo Musetti [6] def Jan Choinski [WC] 6-4 6-2; Adrian Mannarino def Liam Broady [WC] 1-6 6-4 6-3
As Peniston prepares for the second round, there were valiant defeats for Jan Choinski and Liam Broady. Choinski was simply outclassed by Lorenzo Musetti with the Brit showing a resilient showing in the opening set on his weakest surface. However Musetti’s quality was too strong with the Italian bringing his clay court confidence to Queen’s Club.
Meanwhile Broady fell to a three set defeat to Adrian Mannarino who always feels comfortable on grass. Broady will feel it’s an opportunity missed having won the opening set 6-1 playing dominant tennis as well as taking a break lead at the start of the second set. However Mannarino came back and broke on three occasions to prove too strong for the Brit, who will be hoping to have a Wimbledon wildcard.
How to Watch/Follow ATP Queen’s Club 2023
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