Young star Edas Butvilas spoke to VAVEL to give his thoughts on the exciting future of Lithuanian tennis, winning his home tournament and idolising Roger Federer.
Butvilas, 19, may still be in the early stages of his tennis career, but has already reached a ranking of 532nd in the world and has an ITF title to his name.
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On Lithuanian tennis
Whilst tennis in Lithuania has never reached the heights of basketball or football, the nation's biggest sports, Butvilas believes things may be changing.
"It [tennis] wasn't so big, we didn't have good young players for a long time.
"Now we have me and a guy the same age as me [Vilius Gaubas], we're playing pretty well now.
"So it's getting more popular, a lot of people are more interested in tennis," said the 19-year-old.
Gaubas, 18 is ranked just inside the world's top 500, and joins Butvilas in bringing some much needed hope and optimism to Lithuanian tennis.
"We didn't have many players from around here.
"We had [Ricardas] Berankis and [Laurynas] Grigelis, these two guys, but now one is retired and Berankis is still playing, but only has a few years left," said Butvilas.
Berankis, 33 reached a career high of 50th in the world, making him the most successful Lithuanian player in the nations history, and has helped the young pair in their ascent up the rankings.
"We started to practice with him at 15, 16 years-old sometimes.
"Since we've been at the Davis Cup together, every time we meet, he gives us lots of tips and tells us things about tennis.
"He helped us a lot these last few years," said the 19-year-old.
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On winning his home tournament
Butvilas won his first ITF tournament in Vilnius, Lithuania earlier this year.
It was an unexpected result for the youngster, considering his lack of experience.
"It was really nice because before, I didn't have that confidence.
"I hadn't played that many futures yet, so I wasn't confident about winning tournaments.
"But I had a really good pre-season and I came to my first tournament at home," said Butvilas
The 19-year-old was helped by the home crowd on his way to victory.
"It was crazy support from the Lithuanian people.
"It helped me a lot in the first few rounds.
"It helped a lot that it was a home tournament," said the youngster.
Vilnius also hosts a Challenger tournament, a logical next goal for Butvilas to aim for.
"Now the goal is of course to win a Challenger too.
"If it happens at home, that would be amazing," said the Lithuanian.
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On his favourite surface
Butvilas won his maiden ITF title on the hard courts of Lithuania earlier this year but believes he can have success across all surfaces.
"I like all of them.
"I don't really care which surface I'm playing on, I'm comfortable on all surfaces," said the young star.
There is evidence to back up Butvilas' claims as he has won junior grand slam doubles titles at Wimbledon and the French Open.
Winning the three biggest titles of his career on the three different surfaces makes choosing a favourite very difficult.
"For now, my favourite is hard court.
"Grass may be my favourite if I keep playing more tournaments, but because it's a really short season it just passes so fast and you're not able to get in the rhythm fully on the grass," said Butvilas.
The 19-year-old has also had a lot of experience on the clay.
"Since I was 15, I went to Spain for practice, because there were more people to practice with.
"In Spain there's a lot of clay players, so I'm playing on clay a lot," said the Lithuanian.
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On idolising Roger Federer
Butvilas' dream of success on the grass may be thanks to his idol growing up.
"Roger Federer was the first player I fell in love with.
"How he was playing at Wimbledon, it was amazing," said the youngster.
Butvilas won the Wimbledon junior doubles title with partner Alejandro Manzanera Pertusa in 2021, a result that has left the Lithuanian wanting more.
"Winning the junior doubles at Wimbledon was amazing.
"It's a crazy motivation to get there again as soon as possible.
"It was an amazing experience, I want to be there again," said Butvilas.
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On how he spends his spare time
Off the court, Butvilas tries to relax whenever possible.
"I like to play other sports actually with my friends like basketball and football, and to watch it too," said Butvilas.
Lithuania made headlines by beating favourites USA at this year's FIBA Basketball World Cup, which Butvilas was closely following.
"That was nice when they won against USA, but then they lost to Serbia.
"I was watching the matches," said the 19-year-old.
Butvilas also likes to play chess and enjoys exploring some of the big cities he visits for tournaments.
"The best place I've visited was New York.
"Since I was small it looked almost impossible to be there, that far away.
"Many films were in New York and the city always looked amazing.
"To be there twice now was really nice," said the young star.
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On his goals for the future
Currently sat just outside the top 500, Butvilas has ambitions of becoming one of the world's best and knows what he needs to work on.
"Mentally I have to improve a lot.
"I'm not as experienced as the guys playing many years on the Challenger Tour, and I'm losing tough matches.
"I need to improve mentally to put my game into the next level," said Butvilas.
Despite his success at the junior level in doubles, the youngster hasn't changed his plans.
"Now I'm focusing fully on singles.
"If I see I'm not getting there in a couple years in singles, then I will try to go into doubles.
"I know I can reach a high level in doubles, so it's going to be like a back-up plan," said the Lithuanian.
The youngster is cautious of looking too far into the future however.
"Playing my first Grand Slam qualies (next year) would be nice.
"But I'm not focusing a lot on the future, I just want to be present, and learn as much as I can in the moment, go step by step.
"Just go with the flow," said Butvilas.