Ričardas Berankis

Ričardas Berankis

Wimbledon 2010
Country	Lithuania
Residence	Bradenton, Florida, United States & Vilnius, Lithuania
Born	(1990-06-21) June 21, 1990 (age 21) Vilnius, Lithuania
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	2008
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$373,855
Singles
Career record	18–18
Career titles	0 Challenger Tour: 2, Futures: 1
Highest ranking	No. 73 (January 31, 2011)
Current ranking	No. 177 (May 28, 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2011)
French Open	Q3 (2010)
Wimbledon	2R (2010)
US Open	2R (2010)
US Open Junior	W (2007)
Doubles
Career record	5–4
Career titles	0 Futures: 1
Highest ranking	No. 285 (November 28, 2011)
Current ranking	No. 358 (May 28, 2012)
Last updated on: May 28, 2012.

Ričardas Berankis (pronunciation: [ˈrɪtʃərdɑs bɛˌrɑnkɪs]; born June 21, 1990) is a Lithuanian professional tennis player and a prominent member of Lithuania Davis Cup team. He is the first Lithuanian to enter ATP top 100 (on November 29, 2010) and the highest ranked Lithuanian tennis player of all time.

Tennis career

Early career

Berankis began playing tennis at the age of two. Since he was nine years old, Berankis has been coached by Remigijus Balžekas.

In the beginning of his career, Berankis mainly played in Futures and Challenger tournaments. He won one Futures singles and one doubles titles from 2006 to 2008. As a junior, he won the 2007 U.S. Open.^[1]

2008

Berankis started the 2008 season by continuing to play in Futures and Challenger tournaments, but soon began participating in ATP tournaments.

He first entered the 2008 Delray Beach tournament, but failed to make the main draw, losing in the first round of the qualifying draw to Daniel Lustig 5–7, 4–6. He then played in the 2008 Miami Masters, but did not make the main draw, losing in the first round of the qualifying draw to Ivo Minář, 2-6, 4-6.

Berankis made his first professional ATP tournament appearance at the 2008 Orange Warsaw Open. He lost in the first round to the then-world number 96 Wayne Odesnik, 4-6, 3-6.^[2]

Berankis made his second ATP tournament appearance at the 2008 Croatia Open Umag. He once again failed to pass the first round, losing to then-world number 72 Fabio Fognini 3–6, 2–6.^[3]

At the 2008 U.S. Open, Berankis lost to Björn Phau in the third round of the qualifying draw. In the first round, he had defeated David Marrero, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5,^[4] and in the second round he defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.^[5] He lost to Björn Phau, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6.^[6]

2009

At the start of the 2009 season, Berankis first competed in the 2009 Qatar ExxonMobil Open qualifying draw, where he lost in the first round to Matthias Bachinger 4–6, 2–6.^[7]

Berankis then competed for the Lithuanian Davis Cup team in the 2009 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II tournament. He won both of his matches against the Georgian Davis Cup team. He won against George Khrikadze to make the series 1–0^[8] and then against Lado Chikhladze to tie the series at 2–2.^[9] In the second round, Lithuania lost to Slovenia 0–5.^[10] Berankis lost all three of his matches. He first lost to Grega Žemlja 1–6, 4–6, 3–6, then he lost to Grega Žemlja and Andrej Kračman in a doubles match with Vadim Pinko 6–7, 3–6, 3–6, and he lost his third match to Janez Semrajč 3–6, 5–7.

Berankis played mainly in Futures and Challenger tournaments throughout the rest of the year.

2010

Berankis started the 2010 season by competing at the 2010 SAP Open, where he defeated Robby Ginepri in the first round, 6–7, 6–2, 6–3^[11] and Björn Phau in the second round 7–6, 6–3.^[12] In the quarterfinals, he lost to then-world number 11 Fernando Verdasco 6–3, 7–6.^[13] Berankis then failed to qualify to the 2010 Delray Beach main draw, losing in the first round in the qualifying draw.

Berankis played for the Lithuanian Davis Cup team at the 2010 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II tournament. In the first round, Lithuania played against the British Davis Cup team. Berankis won his first match against Daniel Evans 6–1, 4–6, 7–6, 3–6, 6–3.^[14] His second match was against James Ward, whom Berankis defeated 7–6, 6–3, 6–4 and tied the series at 2–2. Lithuania advanced to the second round, winning the series 3–2.^[15]

The highest-ranked Lithuanian on the ATP World Tour played in three more Challenger and Futures tournaments before competing in the qualifying draw of the 2010 French Open. Berankis advanced to the third round of qualification, but did not manage to advance to the main draw. In the first round of qualifying, Berankis defeated Reda El Amrani 6–2, 6–4.^[16] In the next round Berankis defeated Victor Crivoi 6–2, 3–6, 6–0.^[17] In the qualifying match for a spot in the main draw, Berankis lost to Martin Fischer 6–3, 4–6, 5–7.^[18]

Berankis won his first ATP Challenger tournament at the 2010 AEGON Trophy. In the first round the Lithuanian defeated Frank Dancevic 7–5, 7–6.^[19] In the second round Berankis defeated then-world number 93 Kevin Anderson in straight sets 7–5, 6–4.^[20] In the quarter-finals Berankis defeated American Ryan Harrison 6–2, 6–2.^[19] In the semi-finals Berankis won over former world number 88 Adrian Mannarino 6–3, 3–6, 6–4.^[21] He defeated then-world number 137 Go Soeda in the final 6–4, 6–4.^[22]

Berankis played in his first Grand Slam tournament in 2010, the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. He became the first Lithuanian player to reach the Wimbledon main draw with three straight-set victories, including an upset win over Santiago Ventura in the final qualifying round.^[23] In the first round of the main draw, Berankis defeated fellow qualifier Carsten Ball 6–2, 6–0, 3–6, 7–6.^[24] In the second round Berankis lost to Feliciano López 5–7, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6.^[25]

Berankis then competed for the Lithuanian Davis Cup team at the 2010 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II tournament. In the second round, Lithuania played against the Irish Davis Cup team. Berankis won his first match against James McGee 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3.^[26] Then he played his doubles match. Berankis' partner was Laurynas Grigelis. They easily defeated James Cluskey and Barry King 6–3, 6–3, 6–4 and ensured the victory for Lithuania.^[27] The series ended with the result of 3–2.

After a win in first round against American Michael Yani 6–4, 7–5, Berankis had to retire in his Lexington Challenger second-round match against American Alex Bogomolov Jr, losing 4–6, 3–4. It was later revealed that Berankis had an arm injury.^[28]

He had a couple of days of intensive physical training before he went to Canada for the Vancouver Open. In the first round Berankis defeated Andrea Collarini 6–4, 7–5. In the second round he was victorious against Gilles Müller from Luxembourg 6–4, 6–4. In the third round he overcame American Jesse Levine 6–3, 6–4. He defeated another American, Lester Cook, in the semifinal 6–3, 6–3, but lost to Dudi Sela in the final 5–7, 2–6. However, he gained 60 ranking points in the tournament.^[29] Berankis would finish his European hard-court warmup by losing in the first round of Binghamton challenger to American Jesse Witten 4–6, 4–6.^[30]

After these challengers Berankis decided to compete in the 2010 US Open, where he qualified without dropping a set. Berankis started the Open with a four-set win over American wildcard Ryan Sweeting. After that match Berankis lost an epic five-set encounter against then-world number 13, Jürgen Melzer despite being up a break in the fifth set.

Immediately following the US Open, Berankis flew back to Lithuania where he played with the Lithuanian Davis Cup team against Slovenia. Despite winning his first singles rubber in four sets, and winning another epic five-set match in doubles partnering Grigelis, Berankis would eventually lose his second singles rubber in straight sets as Lithuania lost the match-up 2-3 and Slovenia were promoted.

Berankis would not play again until the start of November because of numerous injuries. Upon his comeback Ricardas decided to go back to the Challenger tour playing in the 2010 Bauer Watertechnology Cup challenger in Eckental and the 2010 Lambertz Open by STAWAG challenger in Aachen, but lost in the first round in both tournaments. After this Berankis would make the quarter finals of the 2010 Ritro Slovak Open challenger in Bratislava, losing to Stefan Koubek, before going on to win the 2010 IPP Open challenger in Helsinki, beating Michał Przysiężny in the final, to finish the season on a high note, entering the top 100 for the first time and finishing the year at a career-high of 85th in the world, as well as being the youngest player in the top 100.^[31]

2011

Berankis started the 2011 season at the 2011 Brisbane International tournament. He first went through the qualifying draw, where he won all three matches to proceed to the main draw. In the first round of the main draw, Berankis defeated Arnaud Clément, 6–4, 6–3. He lost in the second round to Florian Mayer, 4–6, 6–4, 4–6.

Berankis then competed at the 2011 Australian Open. This marked the first time he did not have to compete in the qualifying round of a Grand Slam to make the main draw. In the first round, he defeated Marinko Matosevic, 6–4, 6–2, 7–5. In the second round, Berankis defeated former world number 3 David Nalbandian, 6–1, 6–0, 2–0 (ret.). He was defeated by David Ferrer in the third round, 2–6, 2–6, 1–6.

Next he played in the 2011 SAP Open, where he was able to match his best performance on the ATP World Tour by reaching the quarterfinals. There he lost to Canadian and eventual champion Milos Raonic, 4–6, 6–7.

Berankis' next tournament was the 2011 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and the Cellular South Cup, where he lost to eventual champion Andy Roddick in the first round in three sets. In the first round of Delray Beach, he again lost to the eventual champion, Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, in straight sets.

Next he competed in 2011 BNP Paribas Open, his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, where he defeated Alex Bogomolov Jr., 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, in the first round. He had to retire in the next round against Fernando Verdasco because of a back problem.

Personal life

Berankis was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, to Jelena and Genadijus. His mother works in a post office, while his father is a taxi driver. He has one sister, Lina, who was also a tennis player. Berankis resides in Bradenton, Florida, but sometimes also visits Vilnius, Lithuania. He speaks Lithuanian, Russian, and English. Ironically, his last name means "armless" in Lithuanian.

Career finals

Singles

Outcome	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	02007-03-18March 18, 2007	Albufeira, Portugal	Hard	Niels Desein	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	02009-01-18January 18, 2009	Stuttgart, Germany	Hard (i)	Jan Mertl	4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up	02009-09-13September 13, 2009	Istambul, Turkey	Hard	Alexey Kedryuk	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	02009-11-29November 29, 2009	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	Hard	Víctor Estrella	5–7, 1–6
Winner	02010-06-06June 6, 2010	Nottingham, Great Britain	Grass	Go Soeda	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	02010-08-08August 8, 2010	Vancouver, Canada	Hard	Dudi Sela	5–7, 2–6
Winner	02010-11-28November 28, 2010	Helsinki, Finland	Hard (i)	Michał Przysiężny	6–1, 2–0 ret.
Runner-up	02011-11-20November 20, 2011	Bratislava, Slovakia	Hard (i)	Lukáš Lacko	6–7(7–9), 2–6

Doubles

Outcome	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	02008-03-09March 9, 2008	McAllen, Texas, United States	Hard	Sergey Betov	Adam El Mihdawy Uladzimir Ignatik	6–3, 6–3

Singles performance timeline

Key

Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series).

This table is current through the 2012 French Open.

Davis Cup

Berankis is a member of the Lithuania Davis Cup team, having posted a 12–5 record in singles and a 3–3 record in doubles in twelve ties played.

All Davis Cup Matches
2007 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group III
Round	Date	Opponents	Tie score	Venue	Surface	Match	Opponent	Rubber score
RR	9 May 2007	Ireland	1–2	Cairo	Clay	Singles 1	Conor Niland	6–7(5–7), 0–6 (L)
RR	10 May 2007	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2–1	Cairo	Clay	Singles 2	Zlatin Kadric	6–1, 7–6(7–4) (W)
						Doubles (with Gvidas Sabeckis)	Bašić & Ostojic	3–6, 3–6 (L)
RR	11 May 2007	Moldova	2–1	Cairo	Clay	Singles 2	Andrei Ciumac	6–4, 6–0 (W)
RR	12 May 2007	Turkey	2–1	Cairo	Clay	Singles 2	Ergün Zorlu	6–0, 7–6(7–3) (W)
RR	13 May 2007	Egypt	1–2	Cairo	Clay	Singles 1	Karim Maamoun	5–7, 6–7(13–15) (L)
2009 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II
Round	Date	Opponents	Tie score	Venue	Surface	Match	Opponent	Rubber score
1R	6–8 March 2009	Georgia	3–2	Vilnius	Hard (i)	Singles 1	George Khrikadze	6–1, 6–3, 6–1 (W)
						Singles 4	Lado Chikhladze	6–3, 6–4, 6–1 (W)
2R	10–12 July 2009	Slovenia	5–0	Otočec	Clay	Singles 1	Grega Žemlja	1–6, 4–6, 3–6 (L)
						Doubles (with Vadim Pinko)	Kracman & Žemlja	6–7(2–7), 3–6, 3–6 (L)
						Singles 4 (dead)	Janez Semrajc	3–6, 5–7 (L)
2010 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II
Round	Date	Opponents	Tie score	Venue	Surface	Match	Opponent	Rubber score
1R	5–7 March 2010	Great Britain	3–2	Vilnius	Hard (i)	Singles 2	Daniel Evans	6–1, 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–3 (W)
						Singles 4	James Ward	7–6(7–4), 6–3, 6–4 (W)
2R	9–11 July 2010	Ireland	3–2	Dublin	Carpet	Singles 1	James McGee	6–7(2–7), 6–4, 6–4, 6–3 (W)
						Doubles (with Laurynas Grigelis)	Cluskey & King	6–3, 6–3, 6–4 (W)
3R	17–19 September 2010	Slovenia	2–3	Vilnius	Hard (i)	Singles 1	Blaž Kavčič	3–6, 6–2, 7–6(11–9), 6–4 (W)
						Doubles (with Laurynas Grigelis)	Gregorc & Žemlja	5–7, 4–6, 6–1, 6–3, 6–3 (W)
						Singles 4	Grega Žemlja	6–7(2–7), 4–6, 3–6 (L)
2011 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II
Round	Date	Opponents	Tie score	Venue	Surface	Match	Opponent	Rubber score
1R	4–6 March 2011	Estonia	2–3	Tallinn	Hard (i)	Singles 1	Jaak Põldma	7–6(7–3), 6–2, 6–3 (W)
						Doubles (with Dovydas Šakinis)	Künnap & Zopp	2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6 (L)
						Singles 4	Jürgen Zopp	1–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 11–9 (W)
2012 Davis Cup Europe Zone Group III
Round	Date	Opponents	Tie score	Venue	Surface	Match	Opponent	Rubber score
PO	5 May 2012	Greece	2–1	Sofia	Clay	Singles 2	Paris Gemouchidis	7–6(7–4), 6–3 (W)
						Doubles (with Laurynas Grigelis)	Gemouchidis & Kalovelonis	6–2, 7–5 (W)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ričardas Berankis

• Ričardas Berankis at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Ričardas Berankis at the International Tennis Federation
• Ričardas Berankis at the Davis Cup
• Ričardas Berankis fanpage (Lithuanian)

Awards
Preceded by Thiemo de Bakker	ITF Junior World Champion 2007	Succeeded by Yang Tsung-hua