Richard Berankis life and biography

Ričardas Berankis is a Lithuanian professional tennis player, and is the top ranked Lithuanian tennis player of all time.

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 boys' singles final.

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(2).

Berankis' next tournament was in Memphis, 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 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 in the first round Alex Bogomolov Jr. 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. He had to retire in the next round against Fernando Verdasco because of a back problem.

PERSONAL:

Started playing tennis aged two
Nickname is Rycka in his homeland
Speaks Lithuanian, Russian and English
Father, Genadijus, is a taxi driver; and mother, Jelena, works in a post office
one sister, Lina, a former tennis player
Hobbies include spear fishing, playing pool, watching movies and listening to music
Former junior World No. 1 in 2007, when he captured US Open junior title and the Orange Bowl
Trains at IMG Bollettieri Academy in Florida
Coached by Remigijus Balzekas since he was nine years old.

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