Czechs To Take on Spain in Davis Cup Finals

Written by: Derek Felix on 20th September 2009

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Czechs To Take on Spain in Davis Cup Finals

Photo by ataelw on Flickr under Creative Commons 2.0 License. |

It will be a Czech-Spanish extravaganza for all the marbles in Davis Cup. Both European countries came through posting doubles wins for insurmountable 3-0 leads in their respective best-of-five semifinals Saturday.

For the Czech Republic who used tandem Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek’s straight sets 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 win over Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko yesterday, it’s their first final appearance in 29 years.

“It’s unbelievable,” a thrilled Stepanek said after getting it started with his amazing five hour, 59-minute marathon five set singles win over Ivo Karlovic, offsetting a record 78 aces.. “We didn’t think we would cruise to a 3-0 lead against the powerful Croats.”

Stepanek teamed with Berdych who also got the better of emerging 20 year-old Croat Cilic to pull off the huge win. As for Cilic who made a nice run at the U.S. Open all the way to the quarters before falling to eventual champ Juan Martin Del Potro, he later admitted that there probably wasn’t enough recovery time.

“I had problems recuperating after Friday’s singles, but there is no excuse, the Czechs were better,” Cilic expressed of trying to help the host country stay alive.

Even an oddity when the lights went off before the third set creating a 15-minute delay couldn’t turn the tide for Croatia as a focused Berdych and Stepanek finished off their opponents.

For the Czechs, it’s the first time they’ve made the Davis Cup final since winning it all for the only time in their history back in 1980 led by former world No.1 Ivan Lendl.

They’ll take on Davis Cup power Spain, who is aiming to defend their title after sweeping past Israel thanks to a Feliciano Lopez/Tommy Robredo four set doubles triumph over Israeli duo Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2.

“I am thrilled to bits that they played so well,” a pleased Spain captain Carlos Costa said with his country getting the chance to repeat when they host Czech Republic in December. They defeated Argentina last year and will be looking for a fourth Davis Cup in the decade with wins also in 2000 and 2004.

“More and more in Spain, we have players who can play both singles and doubles and win on any surface.”

For Israel who was a surprise semifinalist for the first time following an upset of 2006 champ Russia back in March, they took something positive away from it.

“There’s no doubt that when they play at home nobody can beat them,” said Ram who teamed up with Erlich to win the 2008 Australian Open. “This was maybe a once in a lifetime experience for us but hopefully next time we can play them in Israel with our fans behind us and have another go.”

The match was momentarily stopped due to a ball girl fainting during the second set tiebreak. She was given on-court assistance and carried off with a concerned Rafael Nadal looking on from the team box. The six-time grand slam winner was there to lend moral support as was Fernando Verdasco speaking to how deep the Spanish are.

Though they will host in defense of their crown, the Spanish know it won’t be easy against the Czechs.

“The Czechs are very dangerous and have beaten some very good teams already this year,” explained Costa who dedicated the victory to a young woman who perished due to floods from a torrential storm in Murcia Wednesday.

“Stepanek and Berdych have both been in the top ten and can adapt easily to any surface.”

Topics: All The Marbles, Andy Ram, Croats, Czechs, Davis Cup, Davis Cup Finals, Feliciano Lopez, Host Country, Ivan Lendl, Ivo Karlovic, Jonathan Erlich, Lovro Zovko, Marin Cilic, Minute Delay, Minute Marathon, Radek Stepanek, Recovery Time, Set Singles, Tomas Berdych, Tommy Robredo