From battling cancer at the age of 1 to recording his first career win on the ATP Tour: The miraculous tale of Ryan Peniston
Prior to this week, 26-year-old Ryan Peniston was yet to play a match on the ATP tour. The Brit has been a staple in the Challenger tour, notching up a win/loss record of 246-145 on the ITF circuit since his debut in 2013. However, Peniston got the opportunity of a lifetime thanks to some serendipitous interference from fellow Brit Andy Murray.
The former World No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion made an unexpected run to the final of the Stuttgart Open last week, beating top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and the mercurial Nick Kyrgios on the way. In the final, he fell to Matteo Berrettini in a three-setter that saw him pick up an abdomen injury in the beginning of the third set.
Murray, therefore, opted out of the Queen's Club Championships that was scheduled to begin days later in front of his home crowd in London. The announcement came just before the draw was made, meaning that organizers had to scamper to fill in the slot.
Enter Ryan Peniston with a wildcard. The World No. 180 became the third recipient of a wilcard at the event, following in the footsteps of fellow countrymen Jack Draper and Liam Broady.
Andy Murray had an indirect hand in this. His run to the Stuttgart final meant that he could take up a special exemption place at Queen's, freeing up a second wild card on Friday. This prevented a tricky decision for organisers between Liam Broady and Ryan Peniston. twitter.com/TennisTV/statu…
While Draper was slated to lock horns with fourth seed Taylor Fritz and Broady took on former US Open winner Marin Cilic, Peniston was left to deal with the shortest end of the stick -- top seed Casper Ruud.
Ruud, fresh off his exploits at the recently concluded French Open, where he reached the final before falling to the legendary Rafael Nadal, was making his first appearance on grass this year.
The DREAM DEBUT 🌟
World No. 180 @ryanhpen beats World No. 5 & Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud in his *first-ever* ATP main draw match!
#cinchChampionships https://t.co/acuZxehhHW
Peniston pulled off the upset of the tournament without so much as dropping a set. A 7-6(4), 7-6(2) drubbing meant that the top seed was on his way out on the very first day. The Brit, meanwhile, can boast of a feat not many in tennis history can even fathom: Beating a top-5 player on their ATP tour debut.
One would think that Casper Ruud is the biggest opponent the 26-year-old has defeated till date, but they would be sorely mistaken. 25 years ago, Peniston had to endure a much bigger fight, a battle the Brit is likely to never forget.
See you on Thursday 🦾
Unforgettable day out there today!! Thanks to everyone that came out and made it special 🙌 See you on Thursday 🦾
📸: @the_LTA @QueensTennis https://t.co/VENHohhn6e
At the age of one, Ryan Peniston was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of soft tissue cancer that predominantly affects children. The World No. 180 had tumor-extraction surgery, followed by extensive chemotherapy to prevent any relapse.
Albeit successful, what the treatment meant for Peniston was that it interfered with his development, rendering him smaller than other players in his own age group. Now six feet tall, the 26-year-old revealed in an interview with ATPTour.com that he was almost a foot shorter when playing junior tennis.
But the World No. 180 somehow managed to see a silver lining, remarking that the experience has helped him work on other aspects of his game. With his serve all but taken away as a reliable weapon right from the beginning, he had to adapt and seek other avenues in order to remain competitive against the big servers.
"The chemotherapy affected my growth. I was really small up until I was 14 or 15,” Ryan Peniston said. “I was almost a foot smaller than some of my friends. In that aspect, it almost helped me in terms of tennis because I was able to work on some skills maybe other players weren’t working on. For example my movement, using my hands and tactics.
Like most cancer survivors, the young Brit remains fiercely proud of his mentality, which he attributes once again to the early struggles he had to endure in order to follow his dreams.
“Other people were serving big at 14. It has helped me a lot and when I started growing a bit it made me appreciate it as I was so small when I was younger," Ryan Peniston said. "The biggest long-term aspect of it has been my mentality, though.”
"It has hugely changed my perspective on life, it definitely makes these kinds of days a little bit sweeter" - Ryan Peniston
During the interview, Ryan Peniston further declared that the early experience with cancer has altered his perspective on life fundamentally, ensuring that his results on the tennis court no longer affect his mood in the slightest.
Since even the most devastating loss cannot upstage the tribulations he has already undergone, the 26-year-old is of the opinion that he has the mental space to be more relaxed than most players.
“It has hugely changed my perspective [on life]. When I am having a tough day about something or getting annoyed about something little, I kind of remind myself that I literally might not have been here 25 years ago," Ryan Peniston said. "When I think about stuff [that has annoyed me], It makes me relax and I try and enjoy everything. It definitely makes these kinds of days a little bit sweeter.”
The Brit further revealed that he doesn't recall the exact details of the ordeal since he went through it at a very young age, but is slowly getting to know them with the help of his parents.
“It is a difficult period to look at. I don’t remember anything when I was younger and even when I was a kid I didn’t know that much about the situation," Ryan Peniston said. "It is only in the past 10 years that I have become more interested and asked my parents to tell me.”
It's been quite a day for 26-year-old Ryan Peniston, who made his top 200 debut one month ago:
Upset World No. 5 Casper Ruud in his first-ever ATP main draw match
Got a wild card to play #Wimbledon main draw twitter.com/gasparlanca/st…
Ryan Peniston also reckons that other kids going through a similar situation can take heart from his story, thereby motivating them to push themselves beyond the realm of what was previously considered possible for them.
“I am sure my parents didn’t really want to talk about that time in their life as it must have been so hard for them, like everyone around me. But it gives me a lot of strength when I look back to it,” Ryan Peniston added. “I think any other kids or families that are going through such a tough time, if they can have any kind of glimpse of hope or see what is possible, that would be a great.”