The left-hander from Essex was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma - a soft tissue tumour - at the age of one, needing chemotherapy and surgery over 18 months before recovering.Īfter registering eye-catching victories over Norwegian top seed Casper Ruud and Argentine world number 46 Francisco Cerundolo to reach the last eight last year, Peniston said he hoped his family would be 'very proud' of his journey. Peniston, 27, reached a career-high of 123rd in the world last summer on the back of a superb run to the Queen's quarter-finals, which also brought his inspiring story of beating cancer as a child to a wider audience. Norrie will face either Australian Jordan Thompson or 2016 Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic of Canada. It is always tricky in the first match on grass and there are a few things to work on, but I enjoyed that.' 'I was glad to see the forehand fly long at the end. 'It wasn't easy to get over the line, I had a couple of chances towards the end of the second set, I donated my serve at 3-1 and then he saved a number of match points. 'It feels good to be back on the grass and back playing in London,' said Norrie, who had led 6-2 in the tie-break. While the Serb instantly broke back, Norrie had a chance to seal the match in the 12th game but had to be patient, ultimately taking his fifth match point when Kecmanovic hit a stretching forehand long. Norrie edged a tight opening set by breaking to love in the 10th game and gained further control by taking 40th-ranked Kecmanovic's serve early in the second set.

The 27-year-old is only planning to compete at Queen's before Wimbledon begins on 3 July and his objective of playing as many matches as possible this week started positively. Two weeks after losing in the third round on the French Open clay, Norrie was back on home turf as he looks to replicate a thrilling run at Wimbledon 12 months ago.

Kyrgios a Wimbledon doubt after Halle withdrawal.Ibiza trip helped Alcaraz 'turn mind off' after Djokovic defeat.Murray and Norrie will also team up in the men's doubles competition later in the week.

Ryan Peniston, who reached the quarter-finals last year, shocked 37th-ranked Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4 6-2.īut Dan Evans was unable secure a hat-trick of home victories as he lost 6-4 7-5 to American Sebastian Korda.Īn emotional Evans said afterwards he was 'embarrassed' by a run of six defeats in seven matches, admitting he was lacking confidence and not looking forward to playing Wimbledon.Ī busy day for the British contingent ended when 167th-ranked Jan Choinski - like Peniston, a player given a wildcard - lost 6-4 6-2 to Italian sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti.įormer world number one Andy Murray, who won the ATP Challenger tournament in Nottingham on Sunday, plays his opening match on Tuesday.įive-time singles champion Murray faces a step up in class when he takes on Australian seventh seed Alex de Minaur.

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