It will be a "dream come true" for Ryan Peniston when he walks out to play Henri Laaksonen at Wimbledon on Monday afternoon.
The British No 6 played at SW19 last year in both the doubles and mixed doubles events, but has now qualified for the men's main draw for the first time. And simply qualifying represents the culmination of a story which has seen the 26-year-old overcome cancer.
When just a one-year-old, Peniston, from Essex, was forced to undergo tests after his parents found a lump on his thumb. He was duly diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer which forms in soft tissue.
The player, who failed to qualify for the French Open in May, had to endure surgery and two bouts of chemotherapy followed before being given the all-clear 18 months later. The treatment left a 'large scar' across his abdomen, and affected his tennis career as his growth was stunted until he was about 16.
Peniston hit the headlines earlier this month at Queen's, when on his ATP debut, he beat fifth seed Casper Ruud in straight sets. He went on to make the quarter-finals, before losing to Serbia's Filip Krajinovic.
And now he hopes that playing at Wimbledon will not only progress his own career, but help others to have been through a similar plight: "Ive dreamt about it since I was a kid so it'll be a dream come true," he told the Daily Mail.
"Aside from tennis, I would like to raise cancer awareness and help as many families as I can who are going through similar things that mine went through." Indeed, Peniston hasn't forgotten the impact his illness had on both him and his family.
"It was a really tough time in my life, and especially for my parents and brothers," he added. "It made us closer as a family and it is something I think about when I have bad times. It puts things into perspective when playing tennis."
And he now says his experiences have hardened his resilience when on court: "Tennis is a very mentally tough game so overall it has given me a lot of mental resilience, and I definitely try and use it on the court."
At 13, Peniston moved to Nice, France to train at ISP Academy before going to college at 18. A graduate of the University of Memphis tennis programme, he was part of the GB University Team that won the nation's first ever team gold medal at the Master’U Championships.
Following Queen's, he also played at the 2022 Eastbourne International where he reached the second round as a wildcard, defeating 8th seed Holger Rune along the way. Next he defeated Pedro Martinez before losing to compatriot Jack Draper in the last eight.
The world No 135 is due to start at around 4pm against his Swiss opponent. Laaksonen is at his third Wimbledon tournament, having suffered first-round exits in 2017 and 2021.
