Štěpánek reaches final in first tournament of season

The Czech tennis player Radek Štěpánek has reached the final of his first tournament of the year, the Brisbane International. The eighth seed beat France’s Richard Gasquet 2-6 6-2 6-4 to set up a meeting with Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in the final on Sunday. Štěpánek, who is 30, said even though he had lost the first set, Saturday’s match had been of a very high quality.

Author: Ian Willoughby