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USA Today
5 days ago
- USA Today
Meet the ex-gang member who went from prison to the 2025 British Open
A post shared by Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia (@pgatouraus) The New Zealand Open champion doesn't typically garner a lot of attention when The Open Championship rolls around. As an automatic qualifier event, the tournament is prestigious, but doesn't normally draw the deepest field. When this year's champion, Ryan Peake, tees off at Royal Portrush on Thursday, he'll have just about everyone on the grounds rooting for his success. The 32-year-old former gang member who spent five years in prison is an incredible story of resilience and rehabilitation. Here's everything you need to know about the native of Perth, Australia making his major tournament debut at one of golf's most hallowed grounds. Why was Ryan Peake in prison? Yeah, let's start with the elephant in the clubhouse. At 21 years old, and a member of a motorcycle gang known as the Rebels, Peake was sentenced for assault. Here's what happened, per Golf Digest: Peake alleges that a person in his neighborhood made a threat to the Rebels. Peake and his friends were at a barbecue when they heard the man was home. 'I will be honest with you, mate, we went over to have a conversation, to let him know if he didn't knock it off, he was going to get punches to the head. That sounds harsh, but this person lived the same lifestyle as us, and the only way you can get through is to speak that language.' Peake and his associates approached the man's residence when suddenly the garage door ascended. According to Peake, the man reached for a 'brown object' tucked into his waistband. Peake delivered a preemptive kick, after which his companions joined the assault, one wielding a baseball bat. The confrontation resulted in multiple severe injuries to the man, including fractures to both arms and skull. (The victim did not respond to interview attempts made by Golf Digest, and his name is redacted from the public record for this case.) He initially began his sentence at the notorious maximum-security Hakea Prison in 2014, then was transferred to medium-security Acacia Prison before eventually getting to serve his final year at minimum-security Wooroloo Prison Farm. Peake was an amateur golf star before prison At one point, Peake was friends and teammates with Cameron Smith on the Australia junior team. He played in the Australia Open as a 17-year-old and finished 10th at the PGA Tour Australia's WA Open at 18 years old. He turned pro a year later in 2012. But he was struggling with his mental health and increasingly began to burn out. When it seemed like his time in golf was over, Peake worked various manual labor jobs before falling in with the Rebels. A post shared by Asian Tour (@asiantour) He's coached by Ritchie Smith Best known for helping turn Minjee Lee — the older sister of PGA Tour star Min Woo Lee — into a three-time LPGA major winner, Smith has worked with Peake since he was an up-and-coming youth star. The two connected again while Peake was in prison and the coach wanted to help his old pupil make another run. But Peake had to get out of gang life first. Golf Digest details how he was able to do so while in prison: [Peake] requested a formal meeting with Rebels leadership inside the prison. 'I said, 'I know this sounds stupid, but this coach teaches some of the top-ranked golfers in the world, and he thinks I can still make it as a professional. I want to take this path.' I was worried because I didn't want them to think I was disloyal, but I felt like I owed it to all the people around me, and myself, to try.' To his surprise, he never received so many handshakes and hugs in one sitting. His youth might have had something to do with it, or maybe the Rebels saw what Ritchie saw. 'It's a tough life, being a bikie,' Peake says. 'I think they saw an opportunity for one of their own to better themselves. They were all telling me this could be my last chance. Go earn it.' Six years after he last played a round, Peake was allowed to work on his game in a prison-release program that allowed him to spend up to 12 hours outside the facilities under supervision. Peake won a club event while still in prison Three months into his release program, Peake won a club tournament by shooting a bogey-free round of 66. He gave a quick speech before going back to prison for the night. Peake credits this moment with fully reigniting his motivation. A Long-shot at The Open Peake has 1000-1 odds this week at The Open — tied for the second-longest on the board at BetMGM. It sure feels like he's already beaten those odds once before just by getting to this point.
News.com.au
07-07-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
After being 4-1 up in fourth set, Alex de Minaur wilts against Novak Djokovic to exit Wimbledon
Alex de Minaur lamented his inability to 'lift in the big moments' as he once again stumbled in the face of a top-10 combatant at Wimbledon, losing to Novak Djokovic and conceding he can't take the 'next step' until he finds his best when it matters most. The Australian No.1 took the first set in a canter against the eight-time champion, was steamrolled in the next two, but then had a break point to go 5-1 up and be one service game away from taking his 38-year-old opponent into a fifth set. While Djokovic 'lifted his level big time' with Roger Federer looking on from the centre court stands, de Minaur instead went the other way, losing five of the next eight games to fall in four sets and walk away knowing exactly where he let himself down with another grand slam moment not taken. 'He started going after it a little bit more and raised his level, which completely changed the momentum,' de Minaur said of Djokovic, who won 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4. 'I'm frustrated I let that set slip away, but he's been pretty good in big moments for a very long time. 'In the bigger moments today I think my level dipped, and I didn't rise to the occasion as I needed to if I wanted to beat someone as good as him. 'There's positives (from the match) but where I am in my career I want more. I want to be on the other side of this match coming out on top because that's the next step in my career. 'If I'm going to make the next step, these are the types of matches that need to start going my way.' Even Djokovic conceded he had to 'hang tough' and wasn't happy with his display in front of Federer. Aged 38, he remains a chance to become the oldest grand slam singles champion in the Open era. 'It wasn't a great start for me, it was a great start for Alex de Minaur obviously. I kind of reset myself in the second set,' Djokovic said. 'I was very pleased to hang in tough in the right moments and win this one. 'It's probably the first time (Roger is) watching me and I've won the match. The last couple I lost, so good to break the curse.' Getting into a fifth set could have opened doors for de Minaur and it was hard to take any positives knowing he could have taken down one of the greatest of all time. 'The right thing to do, to tell myself, 'Hey, I was close, I probably should have been into a fifth set, and who knows what happens in that fifth set against Novak at Wimbledon and one of his best grand slams'. I should be telling myself that,' he said. 'But right now … I won't see that side of things. It's still too early. It's a little bit more about, 'Yes, I lost to Novak, but I lost in the fourth round when I was hoping for more this week'.' It was also obvious to the Australian No.1 what he needs to improve on ahead of the US Open. 'I'm always going to put a lot of the pressure on my opponent, and I did that today,' he said. 'What I need to improve on is the serve. When (Djokovic) needed it, he really raised his serving. It felt like he was breezing through games. 'The serve needs to get me out of trouble, needs to help me in big moments, needs to step up if I want to win these matches.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Not super excited': Djokovic's compliment for Demon
Alex de Minaur reckons he couldn't be more excited -- but Novak Djokovic doesn't sound quite so enthused. After Australia's No.1 de Minaur and the man considered by many to be the sport's GOAT Djokovic set up their Wimbledon last-16 date with accomplished victories on Saturday, they both conceded it should be a terrific contest. De Minaur, who beat Danish qualifier August Holmgren in straight sets, has been itching to get his chance for the Wimbledon clash against the seven-time champ that he had hoped to enjoy last year until injury struck, admitting: "It's exciting. "These are the matches you want to be playing in. You don't want to go through a draw or a grand glam and feel like everything has been handed to you. You ultimately want to be beating the best players, and that's my focus. "Novak has completed the game, right? He's broken all the records,. It's amazing for him to still be showing up and still showing that fire and desire to win more." But Djokovic doesn't sound quite so enthusiastic about coming up against the hungry Australian, paying him the ultimate compliment by suggesting: "You're not super excited to play Alex de Minaur on grass, that's for sure! "He has improved his game tremendously in the last couple years. He's playing the tennis of his life. He's definitely knocking on the door of the final stages of grand slams. "He's gotten to the quarters several times. Yeah, last year he had to pull out unfortunately because of his injury, but this year again he's there. "He's playing well. He's so quick and he's a complete player, all around, gaining pace on his serve, as well. He hits his spots very well. "It's going to be a great test to see where my game is at against a top player like Alex." It was another landmark occasion for Djokovic as he celebrated his 100th match win at Wimbledon - a 6-3 6-0 6-4 win over Miomir Kecmanovic - to join Martina Navratilova and Roger Federer as the only players to do so. "I try not to take anything for granted" 🥹Novak Djokovic is still giving everything he's got on the court - and what a match it was to take him to a century of #Wimbledon wins 👊 — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2025 "Any history I make at my favourite tournament, I'm blessed," said Djokovic. But even the great man on his landmark day couldn't keep the limelight from his seven-year-old daughter Tara, who stole the show with her victory dance. After doing his own version of the post-match victory celebration, Djokovic had been trying to explain it was the family's accompaniment to a song called "Pump It Up". "There's a song with my kids — look my daughter's doing it right now," a smiling Djokovic said as he looked into the crowd. "You want to show it, darling?" Tara then showed everyone how it's done - pump your fists down, then left, right and overhead. The crowd roared and laughed. "She's the master," said Djokovic. "It's a little tradition we have right now. Hopefully we can keep going so we can keep pumping more in Wimbledon."
ABC News
03-07-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Kasatkina and de Minau advance to Wimbledon third round, Sinner defeats Vukic
Australia's 16th seed Daria Kasatkina has progressed to the third round of Wimbledon, while Alex de Minaur also progressed after an early slip-up. In a tournament that has already lost top contenders including Coco Gauff (second seed), Jessica Pegula (third seed) and Jasmine Paolini (fourth seed), the draw is wide open for a player like Kasatkina to make a deep run. Playing in her second grand slam since changing her allegiance to Australia, Russian-born Kasatkina needed three sets to down Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. Kasatkina, who made the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2018, had more double faults (6-2) and less winners (16-29) than her Romanian counterpart. But the Australian player was prolific on break point, converting eight of her 11 opportunities in the match. Kasatkina will face 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the third round. In the men's draw, Alex de Minaur overcame losing the first set to defeat Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0. Aleksandar Vukic's debut on Centre Court ended in straight sets, going down to world number one Jannik Sinner 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. Sinner, bidding to win the Wimbledon title for the first time, never loosened his grip on a one-sided contest, although he did need six match points to finish off Vukic in a prolonged final game. There was never any chance of a repeat of last month's French Open final when he squandered three match points in a spellbinding clash with Carlos Alcaraz though, and he duly slammed down his 12th ace as the light began to fade. "I struggled a bit to close it out. I'm very happy, Centre Court is such a special occasion," Sinner said. "Yes, I enjoyed [the last game] because I won the game! If not, I don't know. The match can change very, very quickly. If he breaks me there it can go long distance." ABC/Reuters
Daily Mail
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Alex de Minaur reveals all on his wedding plans with Katie Boulter: Australian tennis star confirms whether nuptials will be held Down Under or in England - and his second love that his British fiancee puts up with
Alex de Minaur is a busy man. As well as preparing for his latest shot at an elusive Grand Slam title, he is engulfed in the chaos of organising a wedding. As the 26-year-old Australian tries to explain the challenges of arranging his upcoming nuptials to British No 2 Katie Boulter, the world No 11 comes as close to lost for words during the entirety of our conversation.
