2011 Brisbane International: Ricardas Berankis amongst four to qualify for the main draw
After playing two days of qualifying rounds, four players qualified for a position into the main draw at the 2011 Brisbane International on Monday. One of the three opening events of the regular ATP season and part of the Australian
Open series, the Brisbane International is being held at the Queensland Tennis Centre from 2nd January to 9th January.
Playing in a 32-player qualifying draw, four players qualified for the main draw at Brisbane after playing three matches from Saturday to Sunday.
The first player to qualify into the main draw was Ricardas Berankis from Lithuania. Seeded second in the qualifying draw, Berankis met eighth seed, local Peter Luczak in the final qualifying match. Berankis moved into the finals
after doing away with Jean-Rene Lisnard from Monaco and Marco Crugnola from Italy.
Rushing into the lead, Berankis won the opener 6-3. Fighting to stay in the match, Luczak rushed into a 5-4 lead into the second set before winning it 7-5. With one set each, the match entered the decider. With powerful aces and
well-placed returns, Berankis was able to secure a 4-0 lead for himself despite the opponent enjoying the home court advantage. Serving 23 aces in the match, his 23rd being the winning shot, Berankis won the decider 6-2; thus, securing a spot in
the main draw. Berankis will play French Arnaud Clement in his first round match later in the event.
Talking about his win, Berankis said, “I feel very good. It’s my first time playing here in Brisbane. Today was a very tough match with Peter. He played very well and didn’t make too many unforced errors. And, well, maybe I got
a bit lucky that we got suspended when the score was 15-40. But I came back to five-all, but didn’t hold my concentration I guess and he used it and won second set. In third set I tried to be more aggressive, keep my energy up, I think it worked. I think this
time it [suspended play] helped me, because then I got more energy and I relaxed a bit. Focus now is to play my best, you know, because everyone is so tough – all the best players in the world. So we’ll see how that goes.”
Joining Berankis in the main draw will be qualifying draw top seed, Adrian Mannarino. Ranked 83rd in the world, Mannarino defeated local Carsten Ball and Canadian Peter Polansky before meeting Tatsuma Ito in the finals.
Losing the second set 4-6, Mannarino was able to secure a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over the Japanese to secure a place in the main draw. He goes on to play fourth seed Mardy Fish later in the event.
After third seed Michael Russell obtained retirement due to a hip injury, Ryan Harrison found himself advancing into the second round. Defeating Matthias Bachinger in the second and Jurgen Zopp in the final, Harrison was moved
into the main draw where he will play top seed Robin Soderling.
The last player to qualify for the main draw was local Matthew Ebden. After defeating Victor Crivoi, eighth seed Grega Zemlja and wildcard entrant Greg Jones, Ebden was able to move into the main draw where he will face wildcard
entrant and compatriot John Millman in their first round matchup.
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