Querrey Blasts Past Berankis for Third Straight L.A. Title

By Chris Oddo

(July 29, 012) -- Sam Querrey capped off a fantastic week at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles with a dominating 6-0, 6-2 victory over first-time finalist and qualifier Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania.

With the victory -- his 13th straight at the event -- Querrey joins Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors as one of three Open Era players to have won the event three times. "To be mentioned with them at this tournament is pretty special,” Querrey said afterwards.

Even more remarkably, Querrey is the first player to have ever won three consecutive titles.

On Sunday, he put forth what was perhaps his finest performance in Los Angeles.

“I feel like I always play well here. It’s fun to play in front of my friends and family. It all came together this week and especially today,” he said.

Querrey is primarily known for his serve and punishing forehand, but in the early going on Sunday, Querrey’s return was also impressive. He won 12 of 16 points against the Berankis serve in the first set, converting on three of four break points to close out the bagel.

In the second set, it looked like Querrey would march unmolested to victory, but Berankis finally managed his first game of the day when he held to pull within 3-1. The 22-year-old, who became the first Lithuanian to reach an ATP final today, cracked an ear-to-ear smile as the crowd gave him a huge round of applause for breaking Querrey’s shutout.

It appeared to relax him some, as Berankis held again to keep within striking distance at 4-2, then earned a break point that would have put him back on serve in the second set.

But the hard-serving Querrey reached back and launched another of his eight aces to survive the threat. “There were a couple of big points here and there, and fortunately I came up with a few big serves and got through it,” said Querrey afterwards.

He would break in the next game to seal the victory in just under fifty-two minutes.

With the victory, Querrey will move back inside the ATP’s top 40 for the first time since he had elbow surgery in 2011.

“I’m hoping I can keep this up and play well the entire summer. I’m just trying to continue to ride the train,” he said, mentioning that his primary goal would be to get a seed at the US Open this summer.

Berankis, who recently missed time duo to a groin surgery, will crack the top 100 thanks to his final performance.

(Photo Credit: AFP/Patrick Kovarik)