Sensational SIX... Brits charge into next round
Cancer survivor Ryan leads the way in best showing since 1997
CHILDHOOD cancer survivor Ryan Peniston led the charge yesterday as six British players battled their way into the second round of Wimbledon.
While Centre Court was graced by legendary champions Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, it was the homegrown talent that caught the eye.
There are nine Britons in the second round – the best result since 1997. And Harriet Dart could make it ten if she wins her first round match, which will begin tomorrow after being delayed by rain.
Peniston, 26, who is ranked 135th in the world, enjoyed a dream debut as he beat Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen, 30, in straight sets.
Speaking after his victory, he said of his cancer fight: ‘It has had a huge impact on me. It’s such a terrible thing to go through, especially for my family, my close friends. But yeah, it gives me so much strength.
‘It definitely affected my growth. I was a really late bloomer and didn’t start growing until 15 or 16. I was always about a foot smaller than all my peers.
‘It made me definitely tougher as a player and a person.’
His train driver father Paul, 66, who coached him, and mother
Penny, 66, were at Court 12 to cheer on their son. Mrs Peniston, a parttime ward manager at Southend University Hospital in Essex, said: ‘He’s such a determined fighter.’
Fellow wild card Alastair Gray, 24, pulled off a straight-sets victory over Chun-hsin Tseng of Taiwan on his Grand Slam debut.
Heather Watson, 30, broke down after she came from a set down to beat Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch following a ‘disaster’ last year.
Jack Draper, 20, whose father Roger is a former chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, had his first Grand Slam win over Belgian Zizou Bergs.
And Liam Broady, 28, completed a five- set victory in three hours and 30 minutes over Slovakian Lukas Klein.
Finally, Katie Boulter, 25, secured her place in the second round by defeating France’s Clara Burel.
Paul Jubb, 22, who was raised by his grandmother on a Hull council estate, put up a valiant fight to level his match against world number 40 Nick Kyrgios at two sets apiece.
While the Australian scraped over the line, he could face potential fines of tens of thousands of pounds for spitting at a spectator for ‘disrespecting’ him and calling the line judge a ‘snitch’.