Wednesday 29 June 2022 09:51 AM The making of Britain's latest Wimbledon wildcard star Ryan Peniston trends now
Wimbledon wildcard Ryan Peniston is fast becoming one of Britain's great hopes for success at SW19 this summer.
After easily brushing aside Henri Laaksonen with a convincing three-set victory on Court 12, spectators are sure to flock to Court 3 early to grab the best seats for the 26-year-old's second-round clash with American rival Steve Johnson.
And his last eight runs at Queens and Eastbourne this month have already seen Peniston take earnings of more than £146,000. This will increase with every match he achieves glory at Wimbledon - and he could even double his earnings if he wins today's match.
But his journey to the iconic grass courts of the All England Club has been nothing short of challenging - and life dealt him an early blow when he spent eight months in hospital as a baby fighting a rare cancer.
Peniston, from Great Wakering in Essex, had surgery and two bouts of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer that forms in soft tissue, aged just one.
He later described the disease as having a 'huge impact' on his life, and caused him to be a 'late bloomer' - delaying his growth until he was 15.
It meant that, until he was in his mid-teens, he was 'always about foot smaller than all my peers'.
Ryan Peniston playing against Henri Laaksonen at Wimbledon yesterday
Peniston is pictured with his ward manager mother Penny at Wimbledon in 2015
A baby Peniston is pictured with his mother Penny. Peniston battled a rare cancer as a baby
For a fledging tennis player, that posed its own challenges, he
