A year ago precocious Lithuanian Richard Berankis was ranked a lowly 320th in the world.
Twelve months on, the youngest player in the top 100 sits at 87th and after an impressive straight-sets upset of former Australian Open finalist Arnaud Clement in the first round of the Brisbane International yesterday, he won’t be there for long.
The world’ s top-ranked junior in 2007 and a former US Open junior champion, 20-year-old Berankis is quietly making his mark in Brisbane, winning through three rounds of qualifying, before his main-draw victory.
At only 5 ft 9, what he lacks in height he makes up for with an attacking all-court game and speedy court coverage.
Berankis made his main-draw debut in a Grand Slam at Wimbledon last year where he felled big-serving Australian Carsten Ball in the first round.
At the US Open he again won a main-draw match beating American Ryan Sweeting before falling agonisingly close to upsetting 15th seed Jurgen Melzer, losing 7-5 in the fifth set.
“I think those were the highlights of my career so far to play [Feliciano] Lopez in the second round of Wimbledon and to play Melzer in the US Open, 4-3 up, serving with game points to go 5-3,” Berankis said.
“I’m looking forward to Australia though now, [my] first time in the main draw so it’s going to be fun.”
Berankis grew up in the capital Vilnius where his dad was a taxi driver and his mum worked at a post office. He first picked up a racquet as a two-year-old.
“Yeah that’s right,” he laughs. “My sister is six years older and she started to play so I wanted to follow her and I picked it up and liked it.
“There weren’t too many courts in Vilnius at that time.
“When I was 10 I really started to play more and my coach took me to his tennis school that was like 200 km away from Vilnius.
“I was lucky I got sponsored then because my parents didn’t have that much money.”
On home soil last year, Berankis lead Lithuania to a 3-2 win over Great Britain in a Davis Cup zonal tie – albeit in the absence of British No.1 Andy Murray – where he won both his singles rubbers.
“Now when I go back to Vilnius maybe I’m more recognisable,” he said.
With four wins to his name already in Brisbane, Berankis will have seventh seed Florian Mayer on alert when they clash today.
And if he continues his current surge up the rankings, he is certain to become more recognised outside of the Lithuanian capital.