London [UK], June 22 : Holger Rune defeated the home favourite Ryan Peniston 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals at Queen's Club Championships.
Rune will next play sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who clawed past Ben Shelton in three sets earlier in the day.
Rune is making his tournament debut and has yet to drop a set in two matches. Against Peniston, the 20-year-old was never in danger, saving all three break points he faced.
Peniston has established himself as a capable grass-court player. All six of his tour-level victories have come to the surface, and he stunned Casper Ruud and Francisco Cerundolo last year at Queen's Club.
However, Rune of Denmark set the tone by breaking his lefty opponent's serve in the opening return game of the match. He battled to serve out the first set and the match, but he always managed to dig himself out of difficulty.
"I think the most important is that I came with a very, very humble approach to the surface and [was] ready to adjust it at any moment," ATP.com quoted Rune as saying in his on-court interview.
"I played Ryan last year, so I knew more of what I was coming into. Last year I didn't see him play so much, but I've seen him over the year now and he's a great player, especially on this surface," he added.
Praising his opponent, Rune said, "He's dangerous. He makes you move and we all know how tough it is to move on grass, so I'm happy to come through."
In other action, Sebastian Korda prevailed in an all-American battle against Frances Tiafoe 7-6(2), 6-3.
"Me and Frances always have some battles and just very happy to get through in straight sets," Korda said in his on-court interview.
"Frances, he always brings a show, he always gets the crowd involved. Sometimes you've just got to kind of put your head down and take care of business. That's all you can really do because when he starts to get going and kind of bringing everyone in, then he plays some of the best tennis on Tour," he added.
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