LS Sport’s tennis correspondent Alistair Fatemi reviews the Davis Cup Final between Spain and Czech Republic
It was pandemonium in Prague last weekend when the Czech Republic (captained by Jaroslav Navrátil) downed defending-champions Spain (captained by Àlex Corretja) in a pulsating final of the 100th edition of the Davis Cup that went right down to the wire. This victory meant that the Czech Republic had clinched the coveted ITF men’s team trophy for the first time as an independent nation in 32 years after Czechoslovakia lifted the cup with a team led by none other than Murray’s new mentor, Ivan Lendl who incidentally, was sitting in the crowd as passionate and animated as ever.
The final took place over three days and consisted of a possible total of five ‘rubbers’ (or matches) as is the case with all Davis Cup ties- two singles matches on the Friday, one doubles match on the Saturday, and two reverse singles matches on the Sunday. The Czechs needed all five as they eventually beat the Spaniards 3-2 in what turned out to be an absolute thriller. This Czech team had only reached the final of the Davis Cup once before back in 2009 where they were soundly trounced by Spain 5-0 on the red clay in Barcelona. However, it was the Czech Republic’s turn to play the tie at home and to choose the surface. Unsurprisingly, the tie was played at the O2 Arena in Prague on a lighting quick indoor hard-court. It must be said that this advantageous set of circumstances coupled with the vital experience they had gained from their previous final appearance ultimately paid dividends as the Czechs did not fold or doubt themselves even when the pressure was white hot in its intensity during the all-or-nothing deciding fifth rubber.
On the first day, the action kicked off with the first singles match between world number 5 (and Spanish number 1 with the absence of Rafael Nadal) David Ferrer and the Czech Republic’s Radek Štěpánek who was ranked 37th in the world. Ferrer came into the clash riding the wave of a career year where he had won 7 titles (the most of any player this year), and was (unfortunately for the Czech), in a rich vein of form indoors having won his first Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters in November as well as putting in a good performance at the World Tour Finals in London. Ferrer has proved over the years that he is so much more than just another Spanish clay-court specialist and despite Štěpánek being an excellent throwback to the serve-and-volley era who certainly plays his best tennis on the faster courts, Ferrer was much too good for him on the day. Unlike their meeting in the 2009 Davis Cup final which was a five-set epic won by Ferrer, the meeting here was more decisive with the Spaniard running out a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 winner. Things were going according to the script: 1-0 Spain.
The second match of the day pitted world number 6 (and Czech number 1) Tomáš Berdych against the 11th ranked Nicolás Almagro in what promised to be a fiery affair as there is quite a history of bad-blood between these two- most notably this year when Berdych refused to shake Almagro’s hand after their match at the Australian Open after the Czech was struck by a tennis ball traveling at mach-speed from an Almagro forehand. The rubber did not disappoint as Berdych knew he had to win to keep the Czechs in with a realistic chance of winning the final as going 0-2 down in rubbers would almost certainly have been curtains. Anything Almagro could muster was a bonus in the eyes of the Spanish as he was not the favourite going in and, despite favouring the clay, he played some inspired tennis to match Berdych and drag him all the way to a fifth set. This was where playing at home really came into its own as the (at times, overly) raucous Czech crowd did all they could to rouse Berdych and hinder Almagro and in the end, perhaps that was the difference as the Czech eventually won out 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 in just under four hours. The final was nicely poised going into the weekend: 1-1.
On the second day, the pivotal doubles match took place which is always the fulcrum of any Davis Cup tie due to it being sandwiched between the two singles days. The doubles team for Spain were newly crowned World Tour Finals doubles champions Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez, and the team for the Czech Republic consisted of Berdych and Štěpánek (who had been unbeaten all year in Davis Cup play). Needless to say, both teams were in form and consequently, picking a winner was nigh on impossible. Ivo Minář and Lukáš Rosol (who you may remember as Nadal’s conquerer at Wimbledon earlier this year), were actually pencilled in as the doubles team for the Czechs before the final. However, given the circumstances, the Czech captain decided not to mess with a winning formula. In what turned out to be arguably the turning point of the final, the Czech duo maintained that unbeaten run to secure a sensational come from behind win 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3. In fact, the last time Berdych and Štěpánek lost a Davis Cup doubles rubber was in that 2009 final defeat. The Czechs were well on their way to avenging that drubbing and were in the ascendancy: 2-1 Czech Republic.
On the third and final day, the reverse singles took place with the Czechs one rubber away from creating history. Berdych and Ferrer (world number 5 against world number 6 and both unbeaten in Davis Cup singles play this year- not a bad match-up!), got things started. The Czechs hoped that Berdych would seal the win and thus, avoid Štěpánek having to go through the agony of a sudden death fifth rubber. Berdych had beaten Ferrer the last time they played (which was also on an indoor hard-court) and therefore, many people were tipping the bigger, stronger and flatter-hitting Czech to prevail. However, David Ferrer was having none of it. Producing one of the performances of his career (I certainly have never seen him play better), Ferrer put on an absolute clinic on what is not traditionally thought of as his best surface to keep Spanish hopes alive and to dismiss Berdych 6-2, 6-3, 7-5. This masterclass ensured Ferrer would maintain his unbeaten streak and would claim a staggering 76th match win of the season (the most of any player). However, despite Ferrer’s flawless contribution, he could still leave empty handed as he had merely equalised the final. It was 2 rubbers all and it was all going to come down to the final tennis match of 2012.
Almagro and Štěpánek had the honour of having the hopes of their respective nations weighing heavily on their shoulders. Before the rubber, most felt that the younger, fitter, stronger, and more highly ranked Almagro would give Spain their sixth Davis Cup title since the year 2000 and that the 33 year-old Štěpánek simply wouldn’t have enough left in the tank to pull-off a fairy-tale win. However, sport is a funny old thing and it became clear almost immediately that the situation was getting to Almagro far more than it was to the Czech veteran. Štěpánek was cool, calm, collected, and maintained a level of tunnel-vision which, given the circumstances, was remarkable. Almagro by contrast looked shackled and slowed by nerves as he was panicked into error after error at crucial times by the ultra-aggressive net-rusher Štěpánek. After taking a two sets to love lead (which included a perfectly played second-set tiebreak), many still felt Štěpánek would fatigue or, dare I say it, choke away this glorious chance. However, despite Almagro rallying to win the third set, Štěpánek rode the deafening crowd support and used all his guile and experience to hold his nerve and emerge victorious 6-4, 7-6(0), 3-6, 6-3 in three hours and 52 minutes. Štěpánek, who sank to his knees before leaping over the net and waving his arms in triumph with all the vigour of a 20 year-old, was embraced by team-mates before hugging his wife with tears rolling down his cheeks.
Incredibly, this victory made the Czech Republic the first country to win the Davis Cup and Fed Cup team trophies for men and women respectively and the mixed Hopman Cup event in one year. However, what is perhaps even more amazing is that Štěpánek had become the first man aged 30 or above to win a decisive fifth rubber of a Davis Cup final in exactly 100 years and given that this was the 100th edition of the esteemed team tournament, maybe the outcome was simply written in the stars?