Tomas Berdych/Radek Stepanek oust Bozoljac/Zimonjic in the WG quarter-finals – Davis Cup 2012
Czech duo of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek stomped over the Serbian team, Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic, in straight sets at the World Group quarter-finals of the Davis Cup 2012. They formulated a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(4) victory against the Serbs to lead
their country 2-1 at this indoor clay court tournament.
The home side displayed superb skills to trounce the less familiar pair, Bozoljac and Zimonjic, in straight sets and take a 2-1. Berdych eased past his opponent, Viktor Troicki, in the opening match. However, Stepanek bowed out to Janko Tipsarevic in a five
set nail-biter.
Stepanek, who had slept for only four hours, commented after the match, "We are happy that we made a point today in the doubles because we were surprised by the Serbian team nomination. We tried to take advantage, we closed it in three sets, and we are happy
for that. I didn't recover too well (from Friday); I felt really tired. But we've been able to get through it and we are happy."
The high flying Czech junction assertively entered the O2 Arena in Prague and held their opening serve with poise. They remained focused throughout the set and after displaying perfect co-ordination, Berdych and Stepanek pulled out the opener with a 6-4
win.
Bozoljac and Zimonjic rebounded in the second set and sought four break opportunities. However, they squandered all of them. The Czechs on the other side cashed in both break chances, consequently sealing the set by winning six games to two.
The Czech collaboration lost their concentration in third set and after losing their opening serve, they fell 0-2. Despite finding five break opportunities in the third game, they failed to capitalise on any of them and went 0-3 down. However, Berdych and
Stepanek made an epic comeback and after snatching their break back, they dragged the set to a tie-breaker. They edged past the Serbs in it and clinched the last set with a 7-6(4) score line.
Stepanek is coming off from winning the doubles title at the Australian Open, first Grand Slam of the season, and Miami Masters 1000 event along with his Indian partner, Leander Paes.
In the reverse singles rubber, Berdych will encounter Tipsarevic while Stepanek will face Troicki on Sunday.
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