How Radek Stepanek went from annoying also-ran to dashing Davis Cup hero

Radek Stepanek

In 2012, a dismayed-looking Alex Corretja saw Radek Stepanek tearing apart Nicholas Almagro’s game in the decisive fifth rubber of the Davis Cup final to emerge as an unlikely hero for his country. A year on, in 2013, the Serbian Davis Cup team was treated to the same wiliness by Stepanek in his match against Dusan Lajovic, enabling Czech Republic to win its second consecutive Davis Cup title.

Hit by controversies and injuries – read Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic – the Serbian team were playing with a marginally depleted side, with the 117th-ranked Dusan Lajovic completing their team composition. However, the presence of Novak Djokovic, who was coming into the Davis Cup unbeaten on indoor hardcourt events in the year, was a huge bolstering factor for the team; the country’s Davis Cup fans unquestionably banked on him to get his team through against the defending champions.

Though the winner of the final wasn’t decided till the very end thanks to Djokovic’s redeeming efforts in both his singles rubbers, there wasn’t any doubt that the hosts were playing on a scale that was miles ahead of the Serbs in terms of team completion. The ban on Troicki and the unexpected pulling out of Tipsarevic right before the final allowed the Czech Republican team, despite using only two players – Stepanek and Berdych -  to play with more ease as compared to the Serbians who had no choice but to rely on Djokovic alone.

Each of the five matches played were settled in straight sets, with the the likely winner being obvious right at the onset in all but one of the encounters. There was never any doubt about Djokovic losing any of his matches, even though he seemed to slightly falter against Berdych in the second set of their reverse singles rubber. But just as visible as Djokovic’s superiority was Lajovic’s inexperience; it was the single most factor that the Czechs seemed only too happy to exploit. The 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 score-line of the Stepanek-Lajovic match brought out the effortlessness with which the Czechs were able to tap into the latter’s rawness.

The doubles match perhaps was the only game that was a little unpredictable, with both teams more evenly matched in the bifurcation of their respective team members. The team of Zimonjic and Bozoljac, though nascent in its partnership, had done well in the semi-final against Canada and was expected to put a stern fight against the Czechs, especially with Zimonjic helming the Serbian doubles fray.

As it happened, though, they folded to Stepanek and Berdych, which was not only a result that was contrary to expectations, but also one that emphasised the nuances of doubles play Stepanek had gained in his partnership with Leander Paes. Those nuances allowed him to seamlessly take over the seniority of the fledgling team that has only made an appearance in Davis Cup ties, giving his country the much-needed surge to keep the Serbians at bay.

Frequently referred to as an underdog, Stepanek and his importance to the Czech Davis Cup team almost invariably shine through in situations like these. Berdych’s place in the singles rankings notwithstanding, the fact that it’s been Stepanek who’s guided the team through to victory on the final day in two successive years speaks a lot about his credentials, despite the fact that he has not held a place in the top-tier of the singles rankings for many years now.

That he has forever bookmarked his name in the pages of Davis Cup history by becoming only the third man to have featured in two fifth rubbers of the Davis Cup final in successive years is one more feather in Stepanek’s cap, making him the unlikeliest of heroes in a tennis era filled with marauding conquerors and victors.

Life has come full circle for Stepanek – from his early years, when he was often looked at as an annoying journeyman who indulged in in-your-face antics to unsettle his opponents, to the status of celebrated Davis Cup veteran, who has brought his country unthinkable success. Some transformation, that!