By Chris Oddo/ Saturday, November 16, 2013

 

Paced by phenomenal play from Radek Stepanek, the Czechs claimed the all-important doubles point in Belgrade on Saturday over Serbia.

Photo Source: Daviscup.com

Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek put the Czech Davis Cup squad one victory from back-to-back titles on Saturday, putting forth a dominant straight-sets victory over Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(4).

More Davis Cup: Czechs, Serbs Even after Day 1

The victory is Berdych and Stepanek's 14th in 15 Davis Cup rubbers.

Though many are debating the wisdom of Serbia's decision to leave World No. 2 Novak Djokovic out of today's all-important doubles rubber, his presence might not have made a difference given the sparkling form of the Czech duo.

Berdych and Stepanek controlled the affair from the onset, breaking twice in the first set and again in the Serb's first service game of the second set to take control of the match. With the small contingent of Czech fans hooting and hollering and blowing into mini vuvuzela's, the momentum of that sterling start carried the Czechs through. They did not face a break point until the middle of the third set, and when they did they rose to the occasion behind Radek Stepanek's strong serving and volleying to stave off the last-ditch attempt of the Serbs.

“Today I felt pretty good on the court,” Stepanek told Daviscup.com. “I felt like the first two and a half sets I’m on a soccer field. The court felt very big. It’s a pleasure to play with Tomas by my side. We fit together with our games and we controlled the match from the first point until the last.”

Though he is the lower-ranked player in the tandem, it was 35-year-old Radek Stepanek who carried the Czechs with his brilliant all-court performance on Saturday. He was effective in all facets but particularly impressive was his immaculate placement of his serves and volleys, which kept the Serbs in want of an easy winner all afternoon. “Unbelievable,” said stand-in Czech Captain Vladimir Safarik. "Radek is an excellent doubles player. He was unbelievable in the first two sets. I haven't seen him play this way. I can't believe it.”

Berdych held his own as well, raining down thunderous, precise serves with regularity and cleaning up any short balls that he saw with aplomb.

The Serbs would have their chances late. At 3-3 a Zimonjic winner gave them their only break point of the match, but that chance would quickly fall by the wayside. Still the Serbs, who did not drop serve after the first game of the second set, were able to force a third-set tiebreaker and even move ahead a mini-break in the early going.

But the stellar play of the Czech Republic's dynamic duo eventually snuffed out all hope for Serbia, closing the affair in two hours and twelve minutes to put the Czechs on the cusp of becoming the first team to win back-to-back Davis Cup titles since Spain in 2008-2009.

The Czech Republic is bidding to become the 5th different nation to defend the Davis Cup title since the formation of the World Group in 1981. There have been 5 successful title defences by 4 different nations in World Group history: USA 1981-82; Sweden 1984-85; West Germany 1988-89; Sweden 1997-98; and Spain 2008-09.