RYAN Peniston revelled in one of the biggest wins of his career after defeating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino from a set down at the Surbiton Trophy.

Wildcard Peniston, who is from Great Wakering, prevailed 2-6 6-1 6-4 to shock the second seed.

World number 195 Peniston defeated a player currently 69th in the ATP rankings, but who has been as high as 22nd in the world and reached the fourth round of Wimbledon three times.

He was most pleased with how he rebounded after the first set, crediting a change of tactics as to why he dropped just five more games after the opener.

He said: “Overall, I’m really pleased with the result. In the first set I started off not as I wanted to. He came out guns firing and I don’t think I was really ready for it.

“After the first set I managed to get a break early and got into the match, and it was a good fight after that. I was happy that I was able to close it.

"I think I relaxed a little bit more and changed my tactics a little bit, tried to change things up, and it seemed to start working, so I kept on with that and managed to get through.”

After claiming such a significant scalp in the first round of his first grass court event of the summer, the Essex ace now wants to push on for the remainder of the British tennis summer.

“It’s a huge win, I could say the biggest win of my career really," said Peniston, who played at Southend Lawn and the Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre in his youth.

"It gives me a huge confidence boost and I’m just really, really happy with how I fought and how I played.

“After all the hard work you put in day in, day out, it makes you feel pretty good, after a win like that it makes it all worth it.

"It gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the grass season.

“I kind of just fulfilled my target, one of them anyway, but I just want to go out there, give my best efforts, and see what I can really do.”

>For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website.