Published On:Wednesday, September 01, 2010

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

IN just his second grand slam appearance of this year's ATP tour, a rising star with Bahamian roots experienced an early setback but remains in contention in yet another draw of the tournament.

Bahamian-born Ryan Sweeting, 23, was ousted in the opening round of the men's singles draw at the US Open Grand Slam in Flushing Meadows, New York.

Sweeting fell to Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 4-6, 7-6, 3-6, 2-6 in a hard fought, four-set match, the third on court four Monday night.

Sweeting held an advantage with first serve percentage points, 62:45 per cent, however his Lithuanian opponent dominated in nearly every other statistical category.

Berankis took an edge in aces (6:3), winning percentage on first serve (72:67), winning percentage on second serve (56:46), receiving points won (41:37) and break point conversions (67:40).

Sweeting is scheduled to continue to contest the men's doubles draw alongside Robby Ginepri of the United States.

Ginepri also lost in the first round of singles competition when he fell to Eduardo Schwank of Argentina 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 3-6. The unranked duo are all set to face the 13th ranked team of Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania.

It will be the second meeting against the two for Sweeting as he also faced Lindstedt and Tecau in round two of the Wimbledon doubles draw. Sweeting and Jesse Levine lost 5-7, 3-6, 2-6.

This is Sweeting's fourth appearance at the US Open in his brief career thus far.

In singles play, he advanced to the second round of the draw in 2006, but has lost in the opening round for the last four editions of the tournament.

In doubles, he lost in the opening round in 2008 and advanced to the second round in 2009.

When we think of a Bahamian tennis player earning the spotlight in doubles play at a major grand slam event, veteran ace Mark Knowles comes to mind, however Sweeting, a relative newcomer to the scene, has made his impression in early grand slam appearances.

In his first Wimbledon appearance this year, Sweeting made his first doubles match in the championships at Wimbledon a smashing success when he advanced to the second round. Sweeting, who resides in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, and plays under the American flag, paired with fellow American Jesse Levine to defeat the team of Stephane Robert of France and Rogier Wassen of the Netherlands, 2-6, 6-2,6-2,6-2.

Sweeting joined the professional ranks in 2007 and has been active on the ATP Tour ever since. He made his grand slam debut in at the US Open in 2006, the very same year he became a US citizen, and won his first round match over Guillermo Coria of Argentina.

After turning pro in 2007, Sweeting did not appear in another Grand Slam until this year's French Open where he lost in the first round. He has a current singles career record of 12-25 and a doubles record of 7-12.

Alongside Levine, Sweeting has reached a doubles ranking of 139, while his high rank for singles has reached 113.