Ricardas Berankis surprises Nicolas Mahut in quarter-finals – Farmers Classic 2012
Lithuanian qualifier, Ricardas Berankis, stunned the fourth seed, Nicolas Mahut, in straight sets at the Farmers Classic 2012 on Friday. He nudged up a 6-4, 6-4 victory against the seeded French to secure a spot in his first semi-final appearance at this
ATP World Tour 250 series event taking place in the campus of UCLA in California.
The number one junior player in 2007, Berankis displayed top notch performance at this outdoor hard court tournament. He required a single break of serve in each set to outsmart the world number 66 in their second meeting. After stealing the show in one
hour and 29 minutes, Berankis not only avenged his loss at the BB&T Atlanta Open last season but also levelled the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 1-1 against the French.
''For the first set, I think for sure that was the crucial game,'' said Berankis in a courtside interview. ''I somehow managed to break him. Maybe there were a couple of lucky points for me, but I was happy the way I could control myself and not let my emotions
control me.''
The Lithuanian reflected about the second break in the opening of the following set:
''I think that was still (a carryover) from the first set. Because he was kind of down and I guess he couldn't control himself emotionally. He made a couple of bad unforced errors in that game. I just hope that tomorrow I can continue the way I'm doing now,
the same game I'm playing now.''
Berankis stepped in the Los Angeles Tennis Center in high spirits. He easily swiped his entire serves after blocking the lone breakpoint he faced. In the ninth game, Berankis capitalised on his seventh break opportunity to carve out the opener with a 6-4
success.
Ranked 141st in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Berankis maintained his intensity in the following set and broke his rival’s serve in the opening game. He then brushed off both breakpoints he faced and kept his entire serves,
subsequently clinching the set with a 6-4 score line.
The Lithuanian stunned seventh seeded Bjorn Phau in the opening round. He then eased past Russia’s Igor Andreev and has yet to lose a set in this Emirates Airline US Open Series event.
Next in line for Berankis is sixth seeded Marinko Matosevic. The Australian seed stomped over the American veteran, Michael Russell, in straight sets to set up this meeting.
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