RYAN Peniston is hungry for more – on and off the court.
The 26-year-old, from Great Wakering, enjoyed his taste of the big time at Wimbledon.
But he will now be heading home to rest and reflect on his incredible grass season before also ordering his favourite Southend treat.
“I’ll be heading home to Southend after this and I can’t wait for fish and chips,” smiled Peniston.
“We normally go to the one by Shoebury Asda and I’ll probably get a Chinese take-away from the Pearl Dragon.
“It will be great to see my family, rest and recover and watch lots of TV.
“But I definitely can’t wait for the fish and chips!”
Peniston has batted several of his opponents during the grass court season and reached four grass court quarter-finals in succession before being rewarded with a wildcard at Wimbledon.
The former Southend High School pupil fulfilled a lifelong ambition lining up at SW19 and added to the excitement by beating Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen in the first round.
Defeat followed against American Steve Johnson but Peniston thoroughly enjoyed his first experience of the main singles draw at Wimbledon and wants it to be just the start of his success.
“After a bit of rest I’ll get back to training and I’m looking forward to it a lot after the last five weeks,” said Peniston.
“What’s happened has given me even more fire to do well and I want this to be just the start.
“Hopefully I can add more to my game and get more good results because I want to get to every Grand Slam now.”
Peniston, who was ranked 135th in the world before Wimbledon, is also targeting a spot in the top 100 along with a place at the US Open which begins in late August.
“I’ll talk to my coach but it’s most likely we’ll be staying in Europe for a couple of weeks and then head to America before the US Open,” said Peniston.
“That will certainly be the short-term goal.
“If I can push and make the main draw of the US Open that would be amazing.”
Peniston certainly has his sights set on more glory and is also keen to keep on playing doubles.
Playing alongside future house-mate Alastair Gray, Peniston suffered a narrow five set defeat against Belgian Joran Vliegen and American Jackson Withrow.
But the left-hander thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
“It was a lot of fun out there but it was a shame we couldn’t get over the line,” Peniston told Echosport at Wimbledon.
“It was an experience for sure and something really cool.
“We gave ourselves a good chance to win and got to a fifth set but unfortunately they played too good at the end.
“I really enjoy playing with Alastair, he’s a great doubles player and I enjoy playing doubles too.
“It’s fun and hopefully we’ll be able to play a lot more matches.”
But it is definitely showings in the singles which will stick long in Peniston’s memory, even if they have yet to sink in.
“Everything has happened quite quickly so it’s not sunk in at all,” said Peniston.
“Maybe it might start to when I’m home resting.
“I’ve had such great support from back home and I’ve been able to look on social media a little bit now as well.
“Seeing all the posts and messages is awesome and everyone’s support has been amazing so I’d like to say thank you for that."
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