Czech Coach Jaroslav Navratil activated double trouble to play doubles today. Lukas Dlouhy and Jan Hajek were slated to play for the Czech Republic, but it looks like the Czechs went with what was tried and true.

Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek were back to crushing dreams this afternoon in Belgium. They had an impressive victory over Steve Darcis and Olivier Rochus and beat the Belgians 6-3 6-0 6-4. The win allows the Czechs to advance into the Davis Cup quarterfinals. The Czech Republic now awaits the winner of the Chile-Israel match.

Saturday’s Results
R3 – T. Berdych (CZE)/R. Stepanek (CZE) def. S. Darcis (BEL)/O. Rochus (BEL) 7-6(0) 6-0 6-3

(Image: AP)

Czech double trouble was back to doing what they do best -- kicking other Davis Cup teams to the curb. Last year’s Davis Cup finalists put themselves in the driver's seat today against Belgium. Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek jumped out into a 2-0 lead after just 4 hours and 37 minutes and six-consecutive sets.

Usually Berdych and Stepanek pull double duty, but Lukas Dlouhy and Jan Hajek are slated to play doubles tomorrow against Steve Darcis and Olivier Rochus. Even if the Czechs lose tomorrow, double trouble should be able to wrap it up on Sunday.

Czech Republic vs. Belgium
Friday’s Results
R1 – Tomas Berdych (CZE) def. Oliver Rochus (BEL) 6-3 6-0 6-4
R2 – Radek Stepanek (CZE) def. Xavier Malisse (BEL) 6-2 6-4 7-6(3)

Saturday’s Match
R3 – L. Dlouhy (CZE)/J. Hajek (CZE) vs. S. Darcis (BEL)/O. Rochus (BEL)

(Images: AP)

The Spanish Davis Cup team posed with Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero after recapturing the title this past weekend.

Spanish camaraderie won in the end. Plus, there are details of Ferrer’s bathroom break right after he lost the first-two sets to Radek Stepanek (NYT)

Tignor takes a harsh look at the Davis Cup final participants. He is really hard on Tomas Berdych and kind of hard on Radek Stepanek. It is a little too severe considering the fact that, on paper, the Czechs should have never made it that far, but they did. Other teams allowed the Czechs to get past them when they should have won. Spain just did what it was supposed to do (Tennis.com)

Freep this poll! Ronaldo vs. Nadal (TMZ)

Viktor Troicki beats Novak Djokovic in a Serbian exhibition 7-6. Djokovic does some impressions and talks tennis (Blic)

Andy Murray commits audio terrorism against the world. You have been now warned (The Pop Cop)

Guga will be honored by Brazil's President Lula. I will now be holding my own parade to honor the honors (ATP)

Pat Rafter wins AEGON Masters title (BL's Tennis News)

Roddick rehabs knee after injury (TSN)

The Austrian Open is dropped from the ATP calendar, and the ATP transferred the rights to Nice, France (TSN)

Roger Federer finishes the year No. 1 in singles, and the Bryan brothers finish no. 1 in doubles (ESPN)

(Image: Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)

Spain successfully defended their title and captured their fourth Davis Cup title of the decade. The last team to successfully defend their title was Sweden in 1998. The Spaniards won the most titles of this decade -- the US came in second with two titles. The title also moves Spain into the sixth place on the number of Davis Cup titles won: USA 32, Australia 28, France 9, Great Britain 9 and Sweden 7. Not bad for a country that won its first Davis Cup title in 2000.

The win this weekend was impressive. Each player carried his own weight. No one flaked out and relied on Rafael Nadal to carry the team. Nadal played wonderfully yesterday, and David Ferrer showed a lot of heart by rallying from two sets down to win when he was not playing particularly well yesterday.

Today, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez stepped up to the plate and effectively shutdown Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych. A weak point for the Spanish duo is Verdasco’s volleying and Lopez’s serve. These issues were not a factor at all today. In fact, they both played really well and kept their errors to a minimum. Plus, Verdasco hit a lot of winners from all over the court.

Most importantly, there were no mental hiccups. In the tiebreak, the Spaniards served for the first set at 6-3. They allowed the Czechs to go on a 4-point run. As a consequence, the Czechs turned the tables and had a set point at 7-6. It looked like the Czech team would take advantage of the situation. Verdasco and Lopez instead took care of business and won the next two points. The next time they saw set point, they converted.

In the second set, the Spanish team played solidly. They did not make any major mistakes and again had no mental letdowns. They stayed with the Czechs and actually broke in game 11. Lopez then held serve for the second set.

From there, the wheels came of the Czech bus. The Spaniards broke in the first and fifth games of the third set. Stepanek and Berdych were completely despondent by game four. The second break effectively closed the door on the Czechs, who had successfully taken advantage of a lot of teams this year. Verdasco and Lopez ultimately won in dominant fashion 7-6(7) 7-5 6-2 after two hours and 46 minutes of play.

Spain wins it in three to cap a dominant performance this year. Congrats to the Czech runners-up, who went on the road and upset France, Argentina and Croatia. They definitely deserved to be in the final but ultimately ran into a team that was all business this year.

(Images: Denis Doyle/Getty Images, LLuis Gene/AFP/Getty Images)

Since Rafael Nadal’s return to the tour in Montreal this year, the Spaniard’s play has been inconsistent. He is still trying to return to that top form that has brought him six grand slam titles. Over the last four months, Nadal has looked good at times and has looked flat at times.

Today, he looked great. His movement was good, and his defense-to-offense was on point. After a tight first set, he steamrolled Berdych in the next two sets and was back to playing target practice with his opponent. The Majorcan eventually topped the Czech 7-5 6-0 6-2 after 2 hours and 28 minutes.

With Spain jumping out to a 1-0 lead and Nadal in good form, this took some pressure off of David Ferrer. Ferrer has really struggled over the last eighteen months. Plus, there was the drama from last year’s Davis Cup final against Argentina.

Ferrer had the more difficult task of playing Radek Stepanek, who has a good all-around game and is known for his head games. Stepanek played well in the first-two sets, and Ferrer looked out of sorts. It looked like it was going to be a replay of last years’ Davis Cup final for the Spaniard.

This time, Ferrer was able to turn the match around and take Stepanek to the distance for a 1-6 2-6 6-4 6-4 8-6 win after 4 hours and 17 minutes of play. At the end of the match, you could tell the win meant a lot to him. It was definitely a good win for Ferrer, his confidence and his critics.

Ferrer’s win now gives Spain some cushion. If he lost, it could have put Spain in a precarious predicament. Spain is now in a good position for another title, but they are still not out of the woods yet.

If any team can rebound from a 2-0 deficit, it is Berdych and Stepanek. The worst kept secret is that Stepanek and Berdych will probably play doubles tomorrow instead of Lukas Dlouhy and Jan Hajek. They are currently undefeated in all three of their Davis Cup matches this year and have a good chance of taking Fernando Verdasco and Felicano Lopez tomorrow. A win tomorrow could spark a Czech run, though Nadal’s play today most likely closes the door on any Czech hopes of a title.

(Images: AP)

Today is the first day of the Davis Cup final. The Spanish team will defend their title against the Czech Republic on their home turf of Barcelona. Though the Spanish team is deep, the Czech team is anchored by Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, who have caused a lot of heartache this year.

The Czechs has travelled on the road and upset a lot of teams along the way. This matchup could actually more of a toss-up than it appears on paper, so it should be a good times for tennis fans.

Friday’s Matches
RR1: Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Tomas Berdych (CZE)
RR2: David Ferrer (ESP) vs. Radek Stepanek (CZE)

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(Image: AP)

Novak Djokovic and Gilles Simon advanced into the Shanghai quarterfinals. Djokovic had an easy time dismissing German veteran, Rainer Schuettler 6-4 6-2. The Serb has quietly been advancing through the draw and looks, by far, the most solid of all the players in the field.

On the other side, Gilles Simon had no trouble with the usually problematic Tomas Berdych. He topped the Czech 6-3 6-4 after 90 minutes of play. Both players had been battling injuries this week, but the Frenchman was able to pull this one out.

Simon will meet Djokovic next. The second-seed looks good and leads their head-to-head 3-1. All meetings were on hard surfaces with the Serb winning the last three. It should be a good matchup tomorrow.

(Images: AP)

Eighth-seed Gilles Simon had a routine win against Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-4. Despite having tendinitis in his knees, the Frenchman soldiers on to the next round. He will meet DC Terror Twin, Tomas Berdych, who retired Marat Safin today.

The two players are even at two games apiece, but Berdych won their last two meetings. Their last meeting was earlier this year at um . . . Davis Cup. It looks like the Frenchman will have his hands full tomorrow.

(Image: AP)

One-half of the Czech-Davis-Cup terror duo, Tomas Berdych knocked off twelfth-seed Marin Cilic, who had been playing fantastic over the last couple of months. He bested the Croat 7-6(8) 3-6 6-4. As I was saying yesterday, Spain better heed the warning and take these two seriously. As I digress . . .

Berdych will play Marat Safin in the second-round. Safin leads Berdych 2-0 in their head-to-head match up. Both wins come last year on clay. The big Russian’s final session has not gone well and deteriorates rapidly as he reaches the end of his career, so this could be Berdych’s opportunity to win one before Safin retires.

(Image: Andy Wong/AP)

Spain and the Czech Republic both wrapped up their Davis Cup ties today. Both team won their doubles rubbers today and advanced to the finals in December.

The Czech two-man wrecking crew of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek made easy work of Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko 6-1 6-3 6-4 today after 2 hours and 16 minutes. It was an easy day for the pair after the two players played almost ten hours in their singles rubbers yesterday.

Their December rivals, Spain surprisingly wrapped up their tie today. Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez had to overcome the Israeli doubles team of Andy Ram and Jonathan Ehrlich.

The Spaniards were able to hold serve in the first set and sneak off with it in the tiebreak. The Israelis then rallied to take the second set. It was at this time that professional asshat, Justin Gimmelstob decided he would pile on the Spanish team by over-emphasizing the Spaniards' volleying weaknesses.

Every player possesses weakness in his game, and that is frankly the beauty of tennis. There are also reasons why players end up doubles specialists in the first place. The Israelis' weaknesses just so happened to be the Spaniards’ strengths, which were their serves and groundstrokes.

It was in the third set that the Spanish team exposed the Israelis shortcomings. The Spaniards upped their serves and drew their opponents into groundstroke shootouts. It was at this point that Robredo and his forehand started playing target practice, and Lopez did a great job of picking off balls at the net.

After the Spaniards won four-straight games, the asshat extraordinaire became quiet for the rest of the match. The Israelis rallied back into the third set, despite Ehrlich having to call for the trainer to treat his elbow. At 4-5, the Spaniards were able to close out the third set. In the fourth set, the wheels came off the Israeli team, and the Spaniards were able to close out the set, the match and the tie 7-6(6) 6-7(7) 6-4 6-2 after 3 hours and 47 minutes of play.

The Spaniards are heavily favored to successfully defend their title, but they take the Czech team for granted at their own peril. The Czech team has let Berdych and Stepanek carry the entire load to the final. They had no problems taking out talented and deep teams -- just ask the French. If Rafael Nadal is able to play, Spain has a great chance to repeat. But if he is not around, the Czech double-trouble team could do a lot of damage.

Video highlights of the Spanish match en espanol below:



(Images: Darko Bandic/AP, Manu Fernandez/AP)

Tomas Berdych beat Marin Cilic 6-3 6-3 3-6 4-6 6-3 after 3 hours and 48 minutes of play. Berdych pulled out the win in another long match to put the Czechs in the lead at 2-0. After just two matches, these two teams have clocked in almost ten hours of play. The Croatians are now going to have to dig deep if they want to turn this deficit around.

(Image: Hrvoje Polan/AFP/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal looked good tonight in Cincinnati and was starting to look like the Rafa of old. He moved well, and his strokes -- especially his forehand -- looked good. The Spaniard dominated poor Tomas Berdych and gave his opponent no hope for winning for the first time in the tournament. He is still not quite in beatdown mode, but his play tonight looked promising.

Nadal jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening set and cruised to take the set after 43 minutes. After losing the first set, Berdych was not discouraged and dug in the second set. Unfortunately for him, Nadal broke the Czech in game eleven. The Spaniard then served out the set for the match at 6-4 7-5 after 101 minutes of play.

The top-four players booked all the semifinal spots for this tournament, and Nadal just took the final spot. Next up for the Spaniard is Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Nadal leads their head-to-head matchup 14-4, but the Serb's last victory over Nadal was last year at this very tournament in the semifinals. Also, the Spaniard is still very vulnerable to being upset tomorrow.

Luckily, Nadal is still improving since being away from the tour, but he is going to have to step it up a notch for Djokovic. It should be a good match tomorrow, so stay tuned.

(Image: Denise/tennisfiend)

Tomas Berdych started out strong in his match with German Philipp Kohlschreiber yesterday in Montreal. It looked like the seventeenth-seed would have a routine win against Kohlschreiber. The Czech instead found himself bounced out of the tournament in his Rogers Cup debut. Kohlschreiber bested the Czech 7-6(5) 6-7(9) 6-4 after almost three hours of play.

Kohlschreiber will now play Victor Hanescu in the second round. The two players have never met in ATP competition.

(Images: Denise/tennisfiend)

German Philipp Petzschner rallied to take out ninth-seed Mardy Fish 1-6 6-4 6-1. He now moves on to play eighth-seed Tomas Berdych in the next round. The two players have never played in ATP competition.

(Image: AP)

City: Washington, D.C., USA
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Championship Points: 500
2008 Singles Champion: Juan Martin del Potro
2008 Doubles: Marc Gicquel and Robert Lindstedt

Second-seed Juan Martin del Potro will defend his title. This year, he will have stiff competition from Andy Roddick and Robin Soderling. The Argentine could have his hands full with Robin Soderling, who currently has the hot hand on tour, in the quarterfinals.

Top-seed Andy Roddick has a good draw. Luckily for him, all of the real threats are on del Potro’s side of the draw. In addition to Soderling, Fernando Gonazalez could get the hot hand this tournament. The Chilean has a good quarter of the draw could cruise into the semifinals.

Roddick should not take his draw for granted, as he has some real sleepers on his side of the draw. Tomas Berdych is perfectly capable of surprising people and putting together a run. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga returns to the tour after taking a break after Wimbledon. He has struggled this year, but he can turn his season around at anytime.

It should be a good tournament and a taste of things to come in the run up to the US Open.

Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Sunday's Order of Play

(Image: Getty Images)

It was a great day for the Czechs. Czech Tomas Berdych managed to outlast Mikhail Youzhny of Russia to capture the BMW Open title 6-4 4-6 7-6(5). It is his first title of the year and his fifth career title. In addition to the title and 71,700 euros, Berdych also won a BMW Z4 Roadster. Not bad, for a week’s worth of work.

In addition to singles, Czech pair Jan Hernych and Ivo Minar upset second-seeds Ashley Fisher and Jordan Kerr of Australia 6-4 6-4. The title is their first title of their careers and first title together.

Championship Sunday
Singles Final
4 Tomas Berdych (CZE) def. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) 6-4 4-6 7-6(5)

Doubles Final
J. Hernych (CZE)/I. Minar (CZE) def. 2 A. Fisher (AUS)/J. Kerr (AUS) 6-4 6-4

(Image: AP)

Tomas Berdych managed to care of the German menace (in a good way). The fourth-seed escaped from Andreas Beck 1-6 6-4 7-6(4) in a 150 minute battle. The Czech will now meet Lleyton Hewitt, who beat the last the qualifier, Thiemo De Bakker. Berdych leads Hewitt 1-0 in their head-to-head matchup.

Wildcard Daniel Brand (pictured) bested Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-4 2-6 7-6(6). The lone German in the draw will play Potito Starace in the quarterfinals. The two players have never met in an ATP event.

On the doubles side, fourth-seeds Rohan Bopanna and Travis Parrott had a routine win over James Cerretani and Jeremy Chardy. They will meet second-seeds Ashley Fisher and Jordan Kerr in the semifinals.

Thursday’s Matches
Singles Second Round
Potito Starace (ITA) def. Simone Bolelli (ITA) 6-4 7-6(5)
4 Tomas Berdych (CZE) def. Andreas Beck (GER) 1-6 6-4 7-6(4)
WC Daniel Brands (GER) def. Julien Benneteau 6-4 2-6 7-6(6)
WC Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) def. Q Thiemo De Bakker (NED) 6-3 6-4

Doubles Second Round
4 R. Bopanna (IND)/T. Parrott (USA) def. J. Cerretani (USA)/J. Chardy (FRA) 6-4 6-4
J. Hernych (CZE)/I. Minar (CZE) def. M. Kohlmann (GER)/A. Waske (GER) 7-6(4) 6-4
D. Gremelmayr/D. Meffert (GER) def. J. Murray (GBR)/P. Vizner (CZE) 7-5 6-2

Friday’s Order of Play

(Image: BMW Open)

Preview: BMW Open
City: Munich, Germany
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Championship Points: 250
2008 Singles Champion: Fernando Gonzalez
2008 Doubles Champions: Michael Berrer and Rainer Schuettler

Fernando Gonzales was set to defend his title this year but has pulled out of the tournament. He sprained his ankle in his Roman quarterfinal match with Juan Monaco. He did play in the semifinal against Rafael Nadal, but his ankle was still sore. The Chilean was playing well and would have been the odds on favorite this year.

The withdrawal now opens the draw. Marin Cilic, the second seed, should be the favorite, but he is not as proficient on clay as some of the others. He should have a good shot at the semifinals, but I would not be surprised if he was tripped up in the earlier rounds.

Lleyton Hewitt is back on tour after taking a break from the tour after his first round loss in Monte Carlo. He did win on clay in Houston and should have no trouble getting to the quarterfinals. From there, he could meet Andreas Beck or Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinals, and I think the Aussie might lose that battle. It is a shame these German upstarts have to play each other in the first round. They are both looking to breakthrough and what better time than in front of an eager German audience. Berdych is also in this quarter and could do well.

Julien Benneteau now breathes a sigh of relief, as he was scheduled to play Gonzalez in the first round, but now plays a lucky loser. Clay is not really his surface, and I would not be surprised if someone tripped him up in the early rounds. His portion of the draw is now the least predictable.

The main beneficiary of the Gonzalez withdrawal is Nicolas Almagro. He is an excellent clay court player and the most proficient in the tournament, but has not had a great year. He did successfully defend his title in Mexico, but his European clay season has been a disaster. This could be a good opportunity for another title and build some confidence for Madrid. His only problem is Mikhail Youzhny, who he could meet in the second round. If he can pass the Russian, he has a pretty good shot at the title.


Tournament Draw
Singles / Doubles

Tournament Malfeasance
Andreas Beck (GER) vs. Mischa Zverev (GER)
Nicolas Kiefer (GER) vs. Ernest Gulbis (LAT)
Evgeny Korolev (RUS) vs. Jeremy Chardy (FRA)

Monday’s Order of Play

(Image: Getty Images)

Qualifier Fabio Fognini, who is currently ranked number 108, rallied to upset Tomas Berdych 1-6 6-3 6-3. The 21-year-old has not advanced passed the round of 16 this year and is 6-7 as of today. He will play Marin Cilic in the next round. The two players have never met in an ATP event.

Albert Montanes upset Nicolas Almagro 7-6(6) 6-4 7-6(5). After Nadal, Almagro is probably Spain’s second best player on clay. This victory is Montanes’ second-consectutive victory over Almagro. He will play wildcard Jean-Rene Lisnard of Monaco.

In the rematch of the Buenos Aires final, Juan Monaco exacted revenge on the eleventh-seed Tommy Robredo 6-2 6-4. He will play the German troublemaker, Andreas Beck in the round of 16. The two players have never met in ATP competition. This could be an exciting match. Both players are vying for the chance to play Roger Federer, should he make it through the next two rounds.

With all of the upsets, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer and David Nalbandian restored some order with their victories.

In doubles, Nikolay Davydenko teamed up with Austrian doubles-specialist Oliver to beat the French duo of Gilles Simon and Jeremy Chardy 6-4 6-1. Next up for Davydenko and Marach are sixth-seeds Frystenberg and Matkowski.

Some good news for France today, Marc Gicquel and Paul-Henri Mathieu bested the doubles specialists Arnold Ker and Cuevas from South America. They will play second-seeds Nestor and Zimonjic.

After his upset in singles yesterday, Nicolas Kiefer and partner, Marin Cilic upset fifth-seeds Brunno Soares and Kevin Ullyett.

(images: AP)

Mikhail Youzhny pulled one out against Jeremy Chardy. The two players were locked in a dead even match until Youzhny broke in game eight of the third set. The Russian then successfully held serve to win the match after almost two hours of play. Tomas Berdych is up next for Youzhny where he holds a 5-2 lead in their head-to-head matchup.


Singles First Round
Michael Youzhny (RUS) def. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 6-4 3-6 6-3
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) def. Ernest Gulbis (LAT) 6-2 6-2
Q Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) def. Tommy Haas (GER) 6-4 6-4
WC Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) def. LL Dudi Sela (ISR) 3-6 6-4 6-3
Oscar Hernandez (ESP) def. Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 6-4 6-4
Agustin Calleri (ARG) def. Christophe Rochus (BEL) 6-4 3-6 6-3
Jan Hernych (CZE) def. WC Brendan Evans (USA) 6-4 6-3
Q Robert Kendrick (USA) def. Arnaud Clement (FRA) 6-3 7-6(5)
Q Frank Dancevic (CAN) def. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4 7-6(5)
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) def. Q Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) 6-4 4-6 6-1
Q Taylor Dent (USA) def. Q Ricardo Mello (BRA) 6-1 6-3
Diego Junqueira (ARG) def. WC Yuki Bhambri (IND) 6-4 6-3
Q Kevin Kim (USA) def. Michael Llodra (FRA) 6-3 Ret’d groin muscle
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) def. Ivan Navarro (ESP) 6-3 6-3
Q Michael Russell (USA) def. Victor Hanescu (ROU) 7-6(4) 6-3
Julien Benneteau (FRA) def. Florent Serra (FRA) 3-6 6-3 6-4