Wikipedia

Lithuania Davis Cup team

The Lithuania men's national tennis team represents Lithuania in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Lithuanian Tennis Association.

Lithuania
Captain
Rimvydas Mugevičius
ITF ranking38 Increase 10 (20 September 2021)
Highest ITF ranking38 (20 September 2021)
ColorsGreen & White
First year1994
Years played21
Ties played (W–L)81 (48 – 33)
Best finishEurope/Africa Zone Group I
first round (2015)
Most total winsRolandas Muraška (56)
Most singles winsRolandas Muraška (37)
Most doubles winsRolandas Muraška (19)
Best doubles teamDaniel Lencina-Ribes &
Gvidas Sabeckis (6)
Most ties playedRolandas Muraška (49)
Most years playedRolandas Muraška (12)

Lithuania has never been a tennis country – no tennis player from Lithuania entered ATP top 500 until 2008. However, the situation is changing in recent years. Currently young Lithuanian players are winning the greatest tennis victories in the history of Lithuania. As expected, this led to the increasing popularity of tennis in the country. Now, Lithuania has a few very high quality players.

In 2012 Lithuania competed in the third group of Davis Cup, where they won all three ties and got promoted to the second group. It played seven times there. Also, it has competed in the third group for 13 times. And once have been promoted to group one, where Lithuania team is currently playing.

Current team (2015)

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Player information and rankings as of 8 March 2015

Squad representing Lithuania vs. Poland (2015 Europe/Africa Group 1 First Round)
Player Current singles ranking Current doubles ranking First year played Ties played Total W–L Singles W–L Doubles W–L
Ričardas Berankis 76 553 2007 13 17–9 14–5 3–4
Laurynas Grigelis 361 132 2008 9 7–9 4–7 3–2
Lukas Mugevičius 642 417 2010 6 3–7 2–4 1–3
Mantas Bugailiškis (young player) N/A N/A 2013 1 0–1 0–0 0–1

Other players

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History

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Lithuania started its Davis Cup history in 1994 with competing in the Europe and Africa zone of Group III.

Present

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Lithuania started 2009 Davis Cup with their first ever victory in Group II. In the first round, Lithuania defeated Georgia 3–2[1] in front of a home crowd in a recently built SEB arena. All work was done by the youngest members of the Lithuanian team – 18-year-old Ričardas Berankis won both of his singles matches[2][3] and 16-year-old Dovydas Šakinis defeated the leader of Georgian team Irakli Labadze in the decisive rubber.[4] For the second round match-up, Lithuania went to Otočec to play against Slovenia. However, the Slovenian team with Grega Žemlja and Blaž Kavčič was too strong for Lithuania, which won only one set in five matches, and the tie ended 0–5.[5][6]

In 2010 Lithuania had its better performance. For the first round match-up Lithuania drew the top seeded British team in Lithuania. With James Ward defeating Laurynas Grigelis, Great Britain winning the doubles match and Berankis winning both of his singles matches the tie came to the decisive rubber. Grigelis won a five-setter against Daniel Evans[7] and against all odds Lithuania celebrated a 3–2[8] victory over Great Britain.[9][10] Lithuania's next round was against Irish team led by Conor Niland and James McGee in Dublin. Lithuania celebrated after the second day when Berankis and Grigelis won the first three matches and secured the tie.[11] Ireland won the remaining dead rubbers with Lithuania winning the tie 3–2.[12][13] In the third round Lithuania had a rematch of last year's tie against Slovenia, only this time Slovenian team came to Vilnius. The best two Lithuanian tennis players Berankis and Grigelis represented Lithuania in all five matches but they won only two of them – Berankis defeated Blaž Kavčič in the first rubber and Lithuania came back from two sets to love down in the doubles match. Eventually, Lithuania ended up losing 2–3[14] and Slovenia was promoted to the first group.[15]

Lithuania came into the 2011 Davis Cup with high hopes but the dreams were crashed in the first round tie against Estonia in Tallinn. During the second rubber Grigelis got a knee injury and not only lost the match but also had to skip the remaining tie.[16] Grigelis was replaced by Dovydas Šakinis who was still recovering from pneumonia so couldn't play his best tennis. Although Berankis won both of his singles matches,[17] Lithuania lost the tie 2–3.[18][19] The fourth rubber between Berankis and Jürgen Zopp took 3 hours 46 minutes and it was the longest rubber for both teams in their histories. After the first round loss Lithuania faced a relegation play-off against Morocco in Vilnius, where neither Berankis[20] nor Grigelis[21] helped Lithuania. The Lithuanian team, with only one ranked player and all players being under 19, lost to Morocco 0-5[22][23] which led to the relegation to the third group for the following year.

In 2012, Lithuania was competing in Group III. In the group stage Lithuania defeated Andorra and San Marino without losing a set. For the promotion play-off Lithuania faced the Greek team. In the first rubber Grigelis lost a tough match to Theodoros Angelinos but Berankis restored the parity by defeating Paris Gemouchidis. In the decisive rubber, Lithuanian leaders won a doubles match and the tie ended 2–1. Lithuania got promoted to the Group II for the following year.[24]

In 2013, Lithuania was drawn to play against Cyprus in the first round of the Europe/Africa Zone Group II.

In 2014 Lithuania team defeated South Africa, Norway and Bosnia and Herzegovina and was promoted to Europe/Africa Zone Group I for the first time in 2015.

Statistics

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  • Total record 45–33 (58%)

Head-to-head record

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Group record

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  • Europe/Africa zone group II 4–11 (27%)
  • Europe/Africa zone group III 41–22 (65%)

Home and away record

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Group II:

  • Performance in Lithuania 3–6 (33%)
  • Performance away 1–5 (17%)

Group III:

  • Performance in Lithuania 2–2 (50%)
  • Performance away 39–20 (66%)

Surface record

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Matches record

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  • Singles 108–78 (58%)
  • Doubles 70–80 (47%)
  • Total 178–158 (53%)

Statistics correct as of the end of the season in 2013.

All players

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Player Highest singles ranking Highest doubles ranking First year played Years played Ties played Total W–L Singles W–L Doubles W–L
Aivaras Balžekas 926 939 1999 5 19 10–13 9–12 1–1
Ričardas Berankis 67 285 2007 6 13 17–9 14–5 3–4
Mantas Bugailiškis N/A N/A 2013 1 1 0–1 0–0 0–1
Eugenijus Cariovas N/A N/A 2006 2 8 8–5 2–3 6–2
Mindaugas Čeledinas N/A N/A 2006 2 3 0–4 0–1 0–3
Artūras Gotovskis N/A N/A 2005 1 2 1–1 0–1 1–0
Julius Gotovskis N/A N/A 2011 1 1 0–1 0–1 0–0
Laurynas Grigelis 183 132 2008 4 9 7–9 4–7 3–2
Denis Ivancovas N/A N/A 1994 3 8 7–4 2–2 5–2
Paulius Jurkėnas N/A 1,434 2000 2 5 1–4 0–0 1–4
Aurimas Karpavičius N/A N/A 2003 1 2 0–2 0–1 0–1
Daniel Lencina-Ribes 591 671 2005 5 20 19–9 11–4 8–5
Gitanas Mažonas N/A N/A 1994 4 13 10–7 7–4 3–3
Lukas Mugevičius N/A 1,513 2010 4 6 3–7 2–4 1–3
Rolandas Muraška 575 1,100 1994 12 49 56–32 37–12 19–20
Tomas Petrauskas N/A N/A 1998 1 2 2–1 1–0 1–1
Vadim Pinko N/A N/A 2009 1 1 0–1 0–0 0–1
Denis Riabuchin N/A N/A 2006 1 2 0–2 0–0 0–2
Arūnas Rozga N/A N/A 1999 2 8 4–4 0–0 4–4
Gvidas Sabeckis 488 548 2002 8 31 23–21 11–7 12–14
Dovydas Šakinis 808 1,214 2009 5 10 4–8 3–5 1–3
Aistis Šlajus 1,346 1,434 1998 3 11 6–10 4–7 2–3
Julius Tverijonas 1,418 N/A 2011 1 1 0–1 0–1 0–0
Giedrius Vėželis N/A N/A 1994 1 3 1–2 1–0 0–2
Kasparas Žemaitėlis N/A N/A 2013 1 1 0–1 0–1 0–0

Data correct as of May 13, 2013.

Results

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1994–1999

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2000–2009

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2010–

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Year Group Team Round Date Location Surface Opponent Score Outcome
2010 Europe/Africa Zone
Group II 		Ričardas Berankis,
Laurynas Grigelis,
Lukas Mugevičius,
Dovydas Šakinis,
Team capitan:
Remigijus Balžekas 		1R 5–7 March Vilnius, Lithuania Hard (i)   Great Britain 3–2 Won
2R 9–11 July Dublin, Ireland Carpet (i)   Ireland 3–2 Won
Q 17–19 September Vilnius, Lithuania Hard (i)   Slovenia 3–2 Lost
2011 Europe/Africa Zone
Group II 		Ričardas Berankis,
Julius Gotovskis,
Laurynas Grigelis,
Lukas Mugevičius,
Dovydas Šakinis,
Julius Tverijonas,
Team capitans:
Remigijus Balžekas,
Rimvydas Mugevičius 		1R 4–6 March Tallinn, Estonia Hard (i)   Estonia 2–3 Lost
PO 8–10 July Vilnius, Lithuania Clay   Morocco 0–5 Lost
2012 Europe Zone
Group III 		Ričardas Berankis,
Laurynas Grigelis,
Lukas Mugevičius,
Dovydas Šakinis,
Team capitan:
Rimvydas Mugevičius 		RR 3 May Sofia, Bulgaria Clay   San Marino 3–0 Won
RR 4 May   Andorra 2–0 Won
PO 5 May   Greece 2–1 Won
2013 Europe/Africa Zone
Group II 		Ričardas Berankis,
Mantas Bugailiškis,
Lukas Mugevičius,
Dovydas Šakinis,
Kasparas Žemaitėlis,
Team capitan:
Remigijus Balžekas,
Rimvydas Mugevičius 		1R 1–3 February Šiauliai, Lithuania Hard (i)   Cyprus 4–1 Won
2R 5–7 April Lisbon, Portugal Clay   Portugal 0–5 Lost
2014 Europe/Africa Zone
Group II 		1R 31 January–2 February Oslo, Norway Hard (i)   Norway 5–0 Won
2R 4–6 April Centurion, South Africa Hard   South Africa 3–2 Won
3R 12–14 September Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Hard (i)   Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–2 Won
2015 Europe/Africa Zone
Group I 		1R 6–8 March Płock, Poland Hard (i)   Poland 2–3 Lost
1R play-offs 17–19 July Vilnius, Lithuania Hard (i)   Ukraine 1–4 Lost
2R play-offs 30 October–1 November Kranj, Slovenia Hard (i)   Slovenia 0–5 Lost
2016 Europe/Africa Zone
Group II 		1R 4–6 March Šiauliai, Lithuania Hard (i)   Norway 3–2 Won
2R 15–17 July Kaunas, Lithuania Clay   South Africa 3–2 Won
3R 16–18 September Vilnius, Lithuania Hard (i)   Bosnia and Herzegovina 0–5 Lost
2017 Europe/Africa Zone
Group II 		1R 3–5 February Šiauliai, Lithuania Hard (i)   Madagascar 3–2 Won
2R 7–9 April TBD, Georgia Clay   Georgia
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References

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  1. ^ Lithuania vs. Georgia daviscup.com
  2. ^ (in Lithuanian) Lithuania vs. Georgia 1-1 Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine 15min.lt
  3. ^ (in Lithuanian) R.Berankis evened the score Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine 15min.lt
  4. ^ (in Lithuanian) D.Šakinis won the decisive match 15min.lt
  5. ^ Slovenia vs. Lithuania daviscup.com
  6. ^ (in Lithuanian) Lithuanian tennis team did not match Slovenia 15min.lt
  7. ^ (in Lithuanian) Lithuanian hero L.Grigelis: It was the best match in my career 15min.lt
  8. ^ Lithuania vs. Great Britain daviscup.com
  9. ^ Great Britain suffer humiliating Davis Cup defeat bbc.co.uk
  10. ^ Davis Cup: Great Britain suffers new tennis low with defeat in Lithuania telegraph.co.uk
  11. ^ (in Lithuanian) Doubles team of Berankis and Grigelis secured the tie for Lithuania 15min.lt
  12. ^ Ireland vs. Lithuania daviscup.com
  13. ^ Davis Cup: Lithuania overcome Irish team tennisireland.ie
  14. ^ Lithuania vs. Slovenia daviscup.com
  15. ^ (in Lithuanian) Davis Cup: Kavčič achieved the victory against Grigelis and Lithuania deuce.lt
  16. ^ (in Lithuanian) Laurynas Grigelis got injured during the Davis Cup match in Estonia deuce.lt
  17. ^ (in Lithuanian) Davis Cup in Estonia: Ričardas Berankis defeated Jurgen Zopp and saved the tie 15min.lt
  18. ^ Estonia vs. Lithuania daviscup.com
  19. ^ (in Lithuanian) Dovydas Šakinis lost to Jaak Poldma, therefore Lithuania lost to Estonia 15min.l
  20. ^ (in Lithuanian) Ričardas Berankis won't play tennis for one more month and will skip Davis Cup 15min.lt
  21. ^ (in Lithuanian) Laurynas Grigelis chose his personal career over representing Lithuania in Davis Cup 15min.lt
  22. ^ Lithuania vs. Morocco daviscup.com
  23. ^ (in Lithuanian) Lithuania lost Davis Cup survival tie to Morocco 0:5 15min.lt
  24. ^ Europe Zone Group III daviscup.com
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