Czech Rebublic’s team members (front) hold up the Davis Cup after winning the last singles Davis Cup match against Serbia at the Kombank Arena in Belgrade yesterday.
BELGRADE: The Czech Republic defended the Davis Cup title after Radek Stepanek beat Serbian youngster Dusan Lajovic in the decisive fifth final rubber in straight sets yesterday.
The 44th-ranked, 34-year-old Stepanek beat the 23-year-old Lajovic, world number 117, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 in an hour and 52 minutes, handing the Czechs an overall 3-2 win.
Lajovic replaced 36th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic, out with a heel injury, while 2010 champions Serbia also missed 76th-ranked Viktor Troicki over a doping ban.
On the hardcourt of the Belgrade Arena, the Czech Republic, playing the third Davis Cup final in five years, scored a ninth straight victory in Davis Cup ties.
Earlier yesterday, Serbia’s world number two Novak Djokovic forced the decisive rubber as he beat seventh-ranked Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in two hours and 41 minutes for his 24th victory in a row.
In Friday’s singles, Djokovic, the recently-crowned ATP World Tour Finals champion, beat Stepanek 7-5, 6-1, 6-4, and Berdych then saw off Lajovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
On Saturday, Berdych and Stepanek won the 14th of their 15 Davis Cup doubles rubbers together as they swept Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
A year ago, the Czechs beat Spain 3-2 in Prague for their first triumph as an independent country with Stepanek again winning the decisive final rubber.
Former Czechoslovakia, which split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, won the cup in 1980.
Meanwhile, world number five Juan Martin del Potro and Wimbledon semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz will join defending champion Bernard Tomic at the Sydney International in January, organisers said in Sydney yesterday.
Argentina’s Del Potro, 25, has enjoyed a strong year with titles in Basel, Tokyo, Washington and Rotterdam and featured in this month’s ATP World Tour Finals in London.
“I know the fans like when I hit my forehand really strong. I like to share moments with the crowd and in Sydney the fans create a great atmosphere for the players,” Del Potro said.
Rising Polish star Janowicz, ranked 21, will play the Sydney event for the first time in the run-up to the Australian Open in Melbourne, the year’s opening Grand Slam.
Australia’s Tomic, ranked 51, will be defending his maiden ATP title.
“Winning Sydney really changed me and made me feel that I can win these tournaments.
“I’m really looking forward to coming back and having a shot at defending my title,” Tomic said yesterday.
Polish world number five Agnieszka Radwanska will defend her women’s title in Sydney from January 5 to 11. AGENCIES
