In recent weeks, the 33-year-old from Vilnius has lost as many as 84 ATP ranking points, most of which he won when he became the champion at the Challenger Series tournament in France a year ago.
Having lost more than a third of his available points, R. Berankis fell in the ranking by as many as 106 positions and fell to 364th place. The last time the tennis player was so low was in November 2009, when he was ranked 402 at the age of 19.
The long-time leader of the Lithuanian tennis national team gave up the status of the country’s first racket to 19-year-old Viliis Gaubs, who rose seven positions in the last week and ranks 309th.
Photo by Saulius Čirba/Vilius Gaubas
The last time R. Berankis was in the second position in the list of the best tennis players in the country was almost 15 years ago – in November 2009, he was overtaken by Gvidas Sabeckis, who had 72 ATP ranking points and took the 545th place. In turn, Richard was 552nd (70 points).
During this period, Laurynas Grigelis attempted to occupy the throne of R. Berankis several times, but the former tennis player, who finished his career and is currently working in Italy, was never able to do so.
In May 2012, L. Grigelis was 184th with 278 ATP ranking points, and R. Berankis was 179th with 290 points.
In May 2017, Lauryns was even closer – 208 points and the 246th place in the ATP ranking, while Richard’s indicators – 243 points and the 243rd place.
R. Berankis’ next tournament should be the “Challenger” championships in South Korea, which will start on April 8.
Lithuanian tennis players in the ATP ranking
- ATP309 – Vilius Gaubas (175 points)
- ATP364 – Ričardas Berankis (135 points)
- ATP611 – Ed Butvilas (56 points)
- ATP1931 – Pijus Vaitiekūnas (1 point)
Tags: Berankis lost status Lithuanian racket break years Sports
