RYAN Peniston will be heading to the University of Memphis next season.

Peniston, who grew up in Great Wakering, has signed a letter of intent with the Tigers.

And he will be added to their roster next term, much to the delight of head coach Paul Goebel.

“We are very excited to get a player the standard of Ryan,” said Goebel.

“He is a very crafty, all-court player.

“His mental toughness and his tenacity will prove a strength in the college tennis game and he should also help us in doubles, as he has some very good junior results.”

Peniston has been travelling around Europe playing in a number of tournaments while also training at ISP in France.

A finalist in the Aegon British Junior Nationals over the summer, he has been competing in various Futures events, including the Great Britain F9 event in Bournemouth last weekend.

Peniston will be the highest-ranked player to sign for the Tigers in this class, already carrying an ATP ranking.

He earned his first professional singles point last July at the Ilkley Futures event, winning his way through the qualifying draw to the main draw, then winning his first round match for his first pro point.

He will add professional doubles points to his rankings when they are next released after last weekend’s results.

In the doubles draw of the Aegon GB Pro-Series Bournemouth Event he opened with a straight sets win, then upended the tournament’s number three seeds, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 10-7, to advance to the semi-finals.

There, Peniston and his doubles partner took the eventual tournament championships and top seeded team, to a tiebreak, falling 6-4, 4-6, 10-4.

Peniston, was coached by his father early in his tennis career, then moved to ISP at age 13 to further his tennis training.