On Thursday, the defending Queen’s champion, Matteo Berrettini, advanced to the quarterfinals of the grass-court competition after defeating Denis Kudla in three sets. This victory allowed him to go on to the next round.
Although Berrettini prevailed with scores of 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), and 6-4, the triumph was anything from easy for the 26-year-old player.
The Italian player fell behind when his American opponent won a close first set. However, Berrettini, who had been defeated by Novak Djokovic in the final of the singles event at Wimbledon the previous year, won a second set tie-breaker.
Then, in the ninth game of the final set, Berrettini broke serve, and then he served out for the victory after an exhausting two hours and 47 minutes on the sun-drenched centre court at Queen’s, which is located in south-west London. Berrettini won the match.
Following Tommy Paul’s dominating victory against three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, world No. 10 Berrettini will now face off against Tommy Paul in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Wawrinka, who is now 37 years old and has been ranked as low as 290 in the world, was sidelined for the better part of 2021 due to a foot issue that needed two operations. The Swiss player is now attempting to work his way back to shape.
After Marin Cilic’s victory on Wednesday, Berrettini has ensured that there will be at least two seeds competing in the Wimbledon tune-up tournament. Berrettini’s victory came after Cilic’s victory.
Despite being a rank outsider, Ryan Peniston is still active in the competition. He defeated Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in three sets to continue a fantastic week in front of his home audience in the United Kingdom.
Casper Ruud, the world’s number five player and the runner-up at the French Open, was eliminated by the 26-year-old player who was competing in his first ever ATP Tour main event on Tuesday.
And Peniston, who was ranked as low as 180 previous to this week, was at it again, beating Cerundolo in two hours in a 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 match that sent him into the final eight of the competition.
A wild card for Wimbledon Peniston was a child when he was diagnosed with cancer, but he beat the disease and went on to have a successful career in professional tennis after training in France and at the University of Memphis.
On Thursday, it only took Peniston twenty minutes to complete what is known as a “bagel” in the first set, but Cerundolo dashed any dreams of a speedy victory by tying the match and then breaking serve at the beginning of the third and deciding set.
Peniston, on the other hand, responded by winning the previous three games in a row, and he clinched the triumph by scoring a winner down the line.
On the court, Peniston could be heard saying, “I don’t believe I want to wake up from this any time soon.”