Super great stuff for the Czech Republic. They had a very difficult task… and they made it to win their first Davis Cup as an independent country.
A SUMMARY
This final had so many up and downs. Everything went according to the predictions in the first day as Berdych defeated Almagro and Ferrer breezed past Stepanek.
Then the home team had a good win in doubles in day two to grab a 2-1 lead.
The last day didn’t start well as a tired Berdych was destroyed in straight sets by Ferrer. Even if Stepanek was the underdog, he did beat Almagro in 4 sets to reach a dream.
FERRER – BERDYCH 6-2, 6-3, 7-5
It took only 2 hours and 25 minutes for David to win this one. Berdych had a very slow start to lose the first 2 sets in no time. Then his national pride made him get to the decider, but he had no (mental?) gas left in the tank.
“He played a lot of matches, he played five sets with Nicolas and four sets yesterday,” said Ferrer. “I played very focused, very aggressive, I started really good and maybe that was the key. It’s very difficult to beat Tomas in three sets but I played one of the best matches of my career in Davis Cup,”
Berdych denied to have been tired “I was feeling well, almost the same as when I started on Friday. That makes it even harder for me,” said Berdych
STEPANEK – ALMAGRO 6-4, 7-6 (0), 3-6, 6-3
This was quite a match. Stepanek is definately one of the most talented players on tour. His tennis is spectacular, unpredictable and sometimes not very solid. Almagro on the other side has a very solid baseline tennis to make this match a big question mark. Eventually it was Radek and the crowd to make it happen.
“I’m living a dream,” said a weeping Stepanek. “We have been working very hard very hard for this moment. It was the biggest pressure under which I’ve ever played. Everything was at stake.”
“We’ve been dreaming about it since the series against Switzerland,” Stepanek added . “Whatever it takes in the Davis Cup, we’ll go through it.”
“This is a moment we’ll never forget.” said Berdych
