Serbia vs. Czech Republic: Quarter-final preview – Davis Cup WG 2012
Quarter-final rounds of the Davis Cup World Group starts from 6th April, with the eight best tennis squads straining for a place in semis of the coveted team event. A gruelling battle is expected between the talented
Czech squad and the strong Serbian line up, due to be played at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.
The 11th meeting of the two teams will begin from Friday and will last for three enthralling days before the clash will be settled. With the head-to-head record being levelled at 5-5, the quarter-final competition between
Czech Republic and Serbia is deemed to be evenly poised but Team Czech will surely have the advantage of home ground and conditions in their favour.
World number seven, Tomas Berdych, will lead the home side in the contest. He will be accompanied by the doubles specialist, 24th ranked Radek Stepanek and Frantisek Cermak, along with the expertise of Lukas Rosol. The
Czech squad seems to lack big names but the likes of Berdych and Stepanek can be extremely lethal on their day.
On the other side, the world number eight, Janko Tipsarevic, will be the spearhead of Team Serbia, joined by the 27th ranked Viktor Troicki. Doubles veteran, Nenad Zimonjic and youngster, Dusan Lajovic, are the other
two members of the strong side. Although the Serbian squad is missing the expertise of the world number one, Novak Djokovic, in the quarter-final tie against Czech Republic, their side is still pretty solid and considered as the hot favourite for winning.
The last time these two teams went one-on-one against each other was in the 2010 semi-final tie of Davis Cup. Serbia was trailing 1-2 after the opening rubbers, with Troicki losing in the singles and the duo of Djokovic and Zimonjic
dropping the doubles matchup. Tipsarevic recorded the only victory from his side to remain alive in the tie, while Stepanek won the singles rubber against Troicki to get his side in the driving seat.
The Serbians turned the tide in an amazing fashion, with Djokovic and Tipsarevic winning the last two singles rubbers against Berdych and Stepanek respectively, racing away to victory at 3-2. It was an amazing turnaround from the
Serbians while playing on their home soil and they are eyeing to repeat the similar feat on the clay courts of Prague this weekend.
Serbian ace, Tipsarevic is all geared up for the clash against the Czechs and is willing to replicate the flawless performance he put forth in their last combat against them.
"I can't wait to play Davis Cup," commented the world number eight while talking about the quarter-final tie against Czech Republic. It was his dedicated effort that Serbia was able to topple their opponents in the 2010 semi-final
and he believes he is in a much better form at the present than two years back.
The home side will heavily rely on the capabilities of Berdych. He lost both of his singles rubbers in the last tie against the Czechs but a similar sort of performance this time round will surely put his side in deep waters once
again. The Serbians shall win the tie 4-1, provided their top guns fire.
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