If Lithuania has such an honour as Hero of the Nation they should award it without delay to Ricardas Berankis, the only player from that country ever to appear at Wimbledon, or indeed at any Grand Slam.
He arrived at The Championships without a tour win since March and ranked No.90 in the world. He was granted a place in the second round thanks to a default and then came agonisingly close to knocking out the No.9 seed and reigning US Open champion, Marin Cilic, in a three-and-a-half hour five-set marathon.
Instead, Cilic squeaked through 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5, managing to call it “a thrilling match of really high quality”. Much of that quality emanated from the underdog Berankis. The 6ft 5in Cilic was by far the taller of the two but it was Berankis who was quicker, and frequently braver, as he tilted at one of the sport’s more towering windmills and almost toppled it. Cilic paid his gallant opponent full credit, too. “Ricardas played extremely well," he said. "He was hitting the ball well and causing me a lot of trouble.”
It took some time for Berankis to find his feet, no surprise considering this was a match moved at the last minute to Centre Court, the high temple of tennis, because of the withdrawal of the scheduled match involving the injured Kei Nishikori. The little Lithuanian must have been nervous and it seemed he would be in for a short, sharp lesson as Cilic, hammering down the aces (he would hit 28 in all), ran away with the opening set in under half-an-hour.
Ricardas played well. He was causing me a lot of trouble
But Cilic’s superiority evaporated in the heat as Berankis, revelling in the surroundings, took the battle to the No.9 seed. Leading 5-4 in the second set, he conjured three set points on the Cilic serve and though the Croatian saved two of them, he could do nothing about the third, a classic backhand down the line from Berankis who celebrated with a raised fist.
The Centre Court crowd warmed to the underdog and he soaked up the applause, extending the third set to a tie-break. The more experienced Cilic had won 11 of his 13 tie-breaks this year, so he was favoured to make it 12 out of 14 and duly did so. Would Berankis now subside? Not a chance.
Breaking serve at the start of the fourth set, Berankis at times treated his opponent with disdain and it was Cilic who began to look hot, bothered and flummoxed. The only time Berankis faltered in the fourth set was when he served for it at 5-2 and was broken. But back he came to level the match at two sets-all, setting the stage for a gripping final set.
Berankis held a pair of break points at 2-2, only to watch in dismay as Cilic hammered three successive aces. Again, at 5-5, he had two break points. Converting one of them would have left him serving for his best win of his career, but again Cilic scrambled out of trouble. This time the occasion seemed to get to the Lithuanian. He fell 15-40 behind on serve. Two match points for Cilic but he did not need to lift his racket to secure the win as Berankis double-faulted.
