Ricardas Berankis crushes Drake Bernstein in qualifiers – BB&T Atlanta Open 2012
Second seeded Lithuanian, Ricardas Berankis, dumped the local challenger, Drake Bernstein, with a breadstick at the BB&T Atlanta Open 2012 on Sunday. He summed up a 6-4, 6-1 victory against the 22-year-old to book a spot in the final round of the qualifying
competition at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event taking place in Johns Creek, Georgia.
The Lithuanian star was broken once but cashed in five out of 15 break chances to overpower the American challenger in their first meeting. After earning the success in one hour and nine minutes, Berankis assertively secured a place in the final round of
this hard court tournament.
Berankis high-spiritedly entered the Atlantis Station and after breaking his rival’s serve twice, he jumped to a 5-1 lead. Despite failing to serve out the set in the eighth game, the Lithuanian swiped his serve once more and clicked the opener by winning
six games to four.
Ranked 147th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Berankis perfected his game in the follow-up set. After Bernstein held his serve in the opening game, the Lithuanian went on a six-game killing spree and pulled out the set with
a breadstick.
All in all, Vilnius native clobbered a drastic first serve share of 39 per cent as compared to his opponent’s 62 per cent but superbly marked 16 out of 18 points on it. He also fired eight vicious aces and spilled fewer errors to inch towards the glory.
Next up for Berankis is the fifth seed, Rik De Voest, who bounced back to overpower the local wildcard entrant, Kevin King, in three sets to set up this battle.
The top seed, Ruben Bemelmans, will accompany Berankis in the final qualifying round. He broke his rival’s serve three times to crush Czech Republic’s Lukas Dlouhy with a breadstick.
The world number 125 clobbered a lower first serve share of 60 per cent as opposed to the Czech’s 63 per cent and impressively availed 26 out of 28 points on it. He also fired eight aces and took full advantage of seven double faults his opponent spilled.
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