Stepanek Stuns Spain In Davis Cup Thriller

Spain’s depth of world class players in men’s tennis proved not enough to claim a second successive Davis cup, as they were denied by an energetic Czech Republic team in front of their home fans at a deafening O2 area in Prague.

The anticipated final came down to the deciding 5^th rubber, where against all odds Czech number two Radek Stepanek produced one of the match’s of his life to see off Spain’s Nicolas Almagro ranked 26 places above him.

Stepanek was the better player on the day

At 33 this was probably going to be one of Stepanek’s last chances to play in such a big occasion, but  the Czech more than rose to it with a 6-4 7-6(0) 4-6 6-3 victory over Almagro and while Czechoslovakia won the title in 1980, this was the Czech Republic's first victory as an independent nation.

At home the Czech’s held a 2-1 lead going in to the final day’s plays but the Spanish were soon level thanks David Ferrer, convincingly beating Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-3 7-5 to force a final match.

 Six year younger Almagro went into the decider as the clear favorite  but nerves were sure to play a significant factor. Despite looking the more likely to clinch the opening break the Spaniard struggled to find his best tennis at the start, as Stepanek continued to approach the net asking questions of his opponent’s passing shots.

Serving first Stepanek always had his nose in front in the first set, while Almagro struggled with his execution making numerous errors. The Czech crowd started to believe in the tenth game when Stepanek’s aggressive returns brought a set point which was taken immediately.

The second set proved pivotal, as Almagro started to play more freely, before steeling a break in the fifth game. However just when the match seemed to be turning Stepanek struck back, as a combination of the Czechs pressure and nervy errors from Almagro helped recover the break leveling at 4-4.

The set headed for a tie break where again Stepanek surprisingly dominated from the baseline, as he raced through the breaker without dropping a point, by far the more focused and relaxed of the two.

With nothing to lose Almagro again loosened up in the third set, reading the Czech’s game better than before playing his best tennis of the match.

Despite chances Stepanek failed to convert any of three break points in the opening game of the set, before Almagro made the breakthrough.

A single break of serve was enough for Almagro to take the third set, but with the crowd still right behind him Stepanek was still in the ascendancy  Back in the match, the pressure again hindered Almagro as Stepanek raced into a 3-0 lead at the start of the fourth.

Interference from the animated crowd frustrated the Spanish camp, but Stepanek always remained calm retaining the break as he converted his second match point to the eruption of noise from the 13,000 Czech fans.