Ryan Peniston wasn’t dreaming but there were moments on Centre Court when it must have felt like he was. Not only was the 27-year-old British wildcard facing his childhood hero Andy Murray on the second day of Wimbledon, but Roger Federer was in the first row, sitting next to Kate Middleton. It was quite the sight: the king of Wimbledon and the future Queen, sharing jokes and engaging in almost constant conversation, the best of friends. Afterwards, Federer gave Murray’s straight-sets victory a royal seal of approval.
This was an impressively straight-forward afternoon for Murray, a welcome opener to shake off any nerves and loosen the limbs ahead of the sterner tests to come, but for Peniston this was a day he will never forget. Peniston was 17 when Murray won Wimbledon 10 years ago and undoubtedly would have played out this fantasy countless times growing up in Essex. Add in a legend of the sport and the Princess of Wales and it was like being transported into a different world. “It was amazing to have some royalty here,” Murray said. “But also some tennis royalty.”
