Czech Republic downs Croatia in Davis Cup semi-final

The Czech Republic has booked an appearance in the final of the tennis’s Davis Cup, after defeating Croatia in their doubles match-up on Saturday. Radek Štepánek and Tomáš Berdych downed Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko in straight sets, 6:1, 6:3, 6:4, a day after winning the first two matches in the semi-final at the Croatian seaside town of Porec. The Czechs are now most likely to face Spain for the championship title. The one time the Czechs won the Davis Cup was 29 years ago, in 1980.

On the first day of the semi-final, the Czechs defeat of Croatia was nothing less than heroic: Radek Štepánek survived a five-hour, 59-minute epic against Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic, in which the latter served a world record 78 aces. In the second match, Tomáš Berdych played a five-setter against Croatian number one Marin Cilic, edging him 6:3 in the final set.

Author: Jan Velinger