It was an anticlimactic weekend of Davis Cup as things went according to the way we thought they might once Janko Tipsarevic officially pulled out with a foot injury. Each rubber was a straight sets affair, and with all do respect to Dusan Lajovic, the tie was all but over when Radek Stepanek hit an unreturnable serve at 6-4 in the 3rd set tiebreak on Saturday, giving the Czechs the doubles point.
Stepanek gave Djokovic a battle in the opening set but then went meekly the final two sets. Lajovic put up a good fight against Berdych but could do little against the Czech no. 1's serve and he lost in straights. Djokovic did not appear in the doubles, but I'm not sure if it would've mattered (and after all Bozoljac and Zimonjic beat the Bryans in April) as the Czechs found the groove that has only seen them lose once in Davis Cup doubles. Djokovic took care of Berdych in the 4th rubber, but that only set up Stepanek to win a second consecutive fifth rubber in the final as he dropped just 5 games against the outmatched Lajovic.
The Czechs may have cracked the Davis Cup code: an amazing doubles team to win the critical 3rd rubber, a top 10 player that generally takes care of business on day 1, and is a tough out on Sunday as well, only losing to Djokovic and Ferrer since the Kazakhstan debacle in early 2011, and a steady mid-tier veteran, who saves his best tennis for Davis Cup. The Czechs have reached the final 3 of the last 5 years, Tipsarevic beat Stepanek in a 5th rubber in the '10 semis, and then there was the curious Kazakhstan tie with Stepanek out where Berdych lost a tie-clinching rubber against Golubev.
The Czechs win their 3rd Davis Cup ('80 - as Czechoslovakia, '12, '13) and are the no. 1 ranked country now in the rankings.
Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. Radek Stepanek (CZE) 7-5 6-1 6-4
Tomas Berdych (CZE) def. Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-3 6-4 6-3
Berdych/Stepanek (CZE) def. Bozoljac/Zimonjic (SRB) 6-2 6-4 7-6(4)
Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 6-4 7-6(5) 6-2
Radek Stepanek (SRB) def. Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-3 6-1 6-1
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