Britain’s Ryan Peniston produced the result of his career to knock out French Open runner-up Casper Ruud at Queen’s Club on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Briton had not been fancied to overhaul the No1 seed at the Cinch Championships but held his nerve for a 7-6, 7-6 victory.
“I can’t really believe it,” he said afterwards. “It feels like a deam. I didn’t get much sleep ahead of the match and it doesn’t feel real.
“Casper is an unreal player, he did so well at Roland Garros so I knew it was a tough ask. I think you have to step on the court thinking you have a chance to win and I did that, and that is all I could do.”
Peniston, who lost out in qualifying at Queen’s a year ago, has catapulted more than 200 players in the world in the past year and is edging towards the world’s top 150 off the back of his win.
He now faces a far less high-profile opponent in Francisco Cerundolo or Pedro Martinez in the second round in London.
Dan Evans, however, failed in his quest to join Peniston in the second round following a 6-3, 6-3 loss to defending champion Matteo Berrettini.
Berrettini had missed the clay-court season with a right-hand injury but has started the grasscourt season in some style. He defeated Andy Murray in the final of the Stuttgart Open on Sunday and was a class apart against Evans in his opening match of his Queen’s defence.
