Line Calls, presented by FanDuel Sportsbook: Ryan Peniston vs. Francisco Cerundolo, London Queen's Club

Peniston upset Casper Ruud to earn his first career tour-level win, and he now has a very beatable opponent in the second round.

ByZachary Cohen

Published Jun 16, 2022

Line Calls, presented by FanDuel Sportsbook: Ryan Peniston vs. Francisco Cerundolo, London Queen's Club

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WATCH: Zach explains more about this match in Line Calls

World No. 180 Ryan Peniston received a wild-card entry into the Cinch Championships at the Queen’s Club in London, and the 26-year-old responded with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) win over world No. 5 Casper Ruud in his opening match. The Great Britain native will now take on world No. 46 Francisco Cerundolo, who is coming off of a straight-set win over world No. 49 Pedro Martinez. It may seem like another tall order for Peniston, but he should be licking his chops as he eyes down this opponent.

While Peniston’s win over Ruud was the first tour-level victory of his career, the lefty is coming off of a slew of solid results on grass. Peniston made it to the quarterfinals of Challenger-level events in Surbiton and Nottingham, going 5-2 on the surface since the start of June. Meanwhile, Cerundolo’s match-up with Martinez was his first grass-court match of the 2022 season. There’s just no way that the Argentine is feeling too comfortable on this surface. Sure, he was able to earn a straight-set win over Martinez, but the Spaniard is a clay-court specialist.

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Cerundolo has only played in two ATP-level matches on grass.

Cerundolo is in the midst of one of the better years of his career, but he has one tour-level win to his name on grass. So, for all of his experience winning matches, he’s as green as the surface he’ll be playing on when it comes to events like these. And considering his serve isn’t one of his biggest strengths, his playing style doesn’t make him a great fit for turf wars.

Meanwhile, Peniston is rock-solid with the ball on his racquet, and the fact that he’s a lefty allows him to throw opponents off when he’s mixing up his shots. He should be able to dictate play from the baseline, and he should ultimately just look like the better player.

It should also be noted that Peniston is going to have the crowd pulling for him in this match. He’s a local player with a great story, and the fans should help give him the push he needs to get across the finish line.

Line Call: Peniston To Win (-172)

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