Czechs switch team for crucial doubles
Source: Agencies |
December 6, 2009, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Czech Republic has switched players for the crucial Davis Cup doubles match against Spain, with Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych replacing Lukas Dlouhy and Jan Hajek.
Stepanek and Berdych both lost singles matches on Friday for defending champion Spain to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series in Barcelona.
But captain Jaroslav Navratil preferred to field the pair, who are 5-0 in doubles play, despite Stepanek losing a grueling five-set match against David Ferrer late on Friday. Hajek has a 1-1 doubles record while Dlouhy has never played Davis Cup doubles.
Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco will play for Spain.
Australia was the last team to recover from a 0-2 deficit, against the United States in 1939.
On Friday, Ferrer beat marathon man Stepanek at his own game to put Spain 2-0 up, after Rafael Nadal's timely return to form had given the hosts an ideal start.
Nadal, relishing a return to clay, brushed aside Berdych 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 to announce his return to form in the opening rubber of the final at the indoor Palau Sant Jordi.
The Czechs seemed certain to level the tie as Stepanek set about dismantling the Ferrer serve in the opening two, hopelessly one-sided sets.
The Davis Cup has a habit of producing great comebacks, however, and feeding off the boisterous home support among the 16,200 capacity crowd Ferrer somehow contrived to take a 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 8-6 win before collapsing in joy and exhaustion.
"It was an epic win but it won't serve for anything if we don't win the title," Ferrer said at a news conference.
"It was an important victory, sure, but we have to win the whole thing for me to be able to savor it."
Stepanek and Berdych both lost singles matches on Friday for defending champion Spain to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series in Barcelona.
But captain Jaroslav Navratil preferred to field the pair, who are 5-0 in doubles play, despite Stepanek losing a grueling five-set match against David Ferrer late on Friday. Hajek has a 1-1 doubles record while Dlouhy has never played Davis Cup doubles.
Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco will play for Spain.
Australia was the last team to recover from a 0-2 deficit, against the United States in 1939.
On Friday, Ferrer beat marathon man Stepanek at his own game to put Spain 2-0 up, after Rafael Nadal's timely return to form had given the hosts an ideal start.
Nadal, relishing a return to clay, brushed aside Berdych 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 to announce his return to form in the opening rubber of the final at the indoor Palau Sant Jordi.
The Czechs seemed certain to level the tie as Stepanek set about dismantling the Ferrer serve in the opening two, hopelessly one-sided sets.
The Davis Cup has a habit of producing great comebacks, however, and feeding off the boisterous home support among the 16,200 capacity crowd Ferrer somehow contrived to take a 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 8-6 win before collapsing in joy and exhaustion.
"It was an epic win but it won't serve for anything if we don't win the title," Ferrer said at a news conference.
"It was an important victory, sure, but we have to win the whole thing for me to be able to savor it."
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