Berankis Triumphs In St. Brieuc

Ricardas Berankis (photo: Open Harmonie Mutuelle)

SAINT BRIEUC, April 1, 2018

Ricardas Berankis is the champion of the 29th edition of the Open Harmonie Mutuelle, a €43,000 ATP Challenger event held on indoor hard courts at the Salle Steredenn in Saint Brieuc. The No. 2 seed from Lithuania fought past French qualifier Constant Lestienne 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in Sunday’s singles final.

Berankis, who didn’t drop a set en route to the title match, won 76 per cent of his first service points and broke his opponent five times to prevail after two hours and 10 minutes.

By hoisting his ninth ATP Challenger trophy, the 27-year-old Vilnius native takes away €6,190 in prize money as well as 80 ATP ranking points. Berankis is projected to return to the top 100 on Monday for the first time in 14 months.

On Saturday, Sander Arends from the Netherlands and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn of Austria captured the doubles title. The No. 3 seeds rallied past No. 4 seeded Britons Luke Bambridge and Joe Salisbury 4-6, 6-1, 10-7. The final lasted 64 minutes.