Dnes (Czech Newspaper)
February 9, 2025

No success again. The Czech Davis Cup team was again stopped in the 1st round of Davis Cup. Novak was badly missing and both final doubles with the Spaniards were lost. Czech Republic lost to Spain 2:3.

Stepanek averted two match points but failed in the third. His backhand went into the net. Nadal cried out Vamos and fell back with hands clenched into fists. Then jumped up, raising his hands.

The match of two players who had not won a single till that time was to decide about the continuation to Davis Cup quarter final. Nadal won it for Spain, which team made it to the final last year. Nadal has beaten Stepanek 7:6 7:3 6:3.

Line judges were heavily criticised by the Chairman of the Czech Tennis Association, Ivo Kaderka. According to Kaderka, the decisions of the judges damaged the Czech team. He will make sure that these people will not work in Davis Cup any more. It was however the injury of Jiri Novak, which was the key moment of the match.

After the double of Saturday it seemed very probable that it will be the Czechs who will go to the quarter final. Novak was a star of the double, supported by Stepanek. They have not lost a single service and have beaten Robredo with Nadal, the champions of Cennai in January, 6:4 7:6 6:3.

Already during this match Novak started to feel pain in his leg. The muscle was however warm enough to manage till the end of the match. It became much worse afterwards.

Novak was sincerely disappointed. I played excellent tennis, was enjoying myself and now I extremely sorry for what happened.

Still he tried again in the practice of Sunday but the physiotherapist of the Czech team, Pavel Kolar, did not recommend to him to play in the next match. Therefore he was replaced by 17 years old Tomas Bedrych.

The Spaniards were also making changes in their team. Instead of Robredo they nominated Feliciano Lopez, who is a grass specialist, ranked 33rd by ATP. Lopez expressed his surprise from the absence of Novak but admitted that in Davis Cup, where double and single can take place short time after each other, things like that may easily happen. Lopez made thirty aces against Bedrych. Although he lost second set in tie break, he was otherwise in control of the match, which ended 6:4 6:7 6:3 6:2. Spain evened to 2:2.

Bedrych confessed that Davis Cup at home was far more demanding than last year in Thailand. He felt immense pressure.

Further on, Stepanek did not make a single set against Nadal. He was playing four tie breaks in his two matches in Brno, and lost them all. �I cannot understand it�, he said. �I was always more winning than losing in tie breaks.�

Stepanek wasted set point of the second set at 5:4 and two games later he suffered an injury. Czech physiotherapist taped his ankle but Stepanek maintained that this had no influence on his performance.

After the mach Nadal was dancing among the Spaniards, excited by the fact that Spanish tennis need not rely on Moya and Ferrero only. �We managed even without them�, reminded Arrese, the captain.

In the end the hero of Brno match was not Novak but Nadal. �I was so nervous�, Nadal admitted. The Czechs selected a super fast surface to which I am not accustomed at all. But still I won.

In the history of Davis Cup Spanish tennis players were nine times losing 1:2, yet they managed to reverse the development of the matches and won. In Brno they showed the same thing tenth time. They will play quarter final with the Dutch, on clay at home.