Ryan Peniston: cancer, chemotherapy and a resounding victory against Nadal’s last victim

At just one year old, Ryan Peniston was found to have a tumor lodged in his abdomen. They found Rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of cancer that affects the muscles that attach to bones and mainly affects children. Several sessions of chemotherapy cured the Briton, who, 25 years after that disease, won his first professional success at Queen’s.

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Peniston, a regular in the Futures and Challengers tournaments, has never played an ATP match. At 26 years old, the number 180 in the world has no chance to measure himself against the best. Until a fluke, a kind of luck tied to Andy Murray, allowed him to appear at Queen’s.

Murray’s run in Stuttgart, where he reached the final, means the three -time Grand Slam winner doesn’t need an invitation to play at the Queen’s. The ATP gave him a “special exemption” because he had gone so far in the tournament played last week, so one of the three ‘wildcards’ distributed by Queen’s was free. The organization no longer has to debate between giving it to Liam Broady, who has been invited to the contest four times, or Peniston, who has never had such an honor.

With guaranteed participation, the British have to dance with the ugliest. Or at least ugliest according to ranking. The draw paired him with Casper Ruud, number five in the world and a recent finalist at Roland Garros. A deadly crossing, if not for the Oslo player’s anger at the grass. “This surface is for golfers,” Ruud, who barely won two games on the grass, joked a few months ago.

Peniston, who will play just six games on the lawn (4-2) between Nottingham Challengers and Surbiton, will face the Norwegian. The best victory of his career, the first at the ATP level, the first against a ‘top ten’, a top 20, a top 50 and the only fourth against a top 100. An incredible victory for players who have survived cancer and chemotherapy.

“I don’t really remember, which I think is good,” Peniston said at a news conference. “It was a hard way to start my life. Most of all, it was hard for my parents and siblings. After that, I had tests and check-ups every two years, sometimes once a year, to see that everything was okay. And here I am “He added.

Peniston, who needed three years to eradicate cancer, began playing tennis at the age of three, later, at the age of thirteen, moving to France, more specifically to Nice, to the so -called Moratoglou Academy – whichever coach’s Serena Williams and now advises Stefanos Tsitsipas-.

“I went to academia because at that time it was very difficult to combine study and tennis. We went a few weeks and we liked it. My father asked me if I wanted to stay and I decided yes.Explanation by Peniston.

But the journey from Nice to Queen is not a fairy tale. Quite the opposite. It was only in 2019 that Peniston played in his first Challenger, at Surbiton, when he was still out of the top 600 in the world. Based on playing Futures, the third echelon of tennis, he was able to make it into the top 400 in September 2019, at almost 24 years old.

“This is a very gradual process.Peniston pondered. “When I was a kid I wasn’t in the top 20 in England. I haven’t been one of the top. A basis of training and hard work my big opportunity was when I was able to study at university in the United States. That taught me the path I should take if I wanted to reach the level I sought. Since then, with each training session, I see where I want to be and what I want to achieve. “

In August last year, Peniston reached his first final Prague Challenger, losing. Like the next two in Antalya and Ostrava. The latter served to get him for the first time, in May, among the 200 best in the world.

The night before his Queen’s debut, Peniston admitted he had difficulty sleeping. “I was very nervous. This was my first fight against ATP and mainly at home. Fortunately I knew I had nothing to lose“.

Her great years have given her not only the opportunity to continue growing at Queen’s, but also argue the final table of Wimbledon, who gave him the invitation.

“It’s incredible because I have a short list of goals. Playing in the Wimbledon final draw tops the list. It’s been very emotional,” Peniston said.