Story highlights
Czech Republic make Davis Cup final for second consecutive year
A 3-0 defeat of Argentina in Prague wrapped up on Saturday with doubles victory
Canada lead Serbia 2-1 in Belgrade after a five-set doubles victory on Saturday
The Czech Republic remain on course for a second consecutive Davis Cup triumph after beating Argentina 3-0 in the semifinal at Prague’s O2 Arena on Saturday.
Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek took just over two hours to beat Argentine pair Carlos Berlocq and Horacio Zeballos in straight sets, 6-3 6-4 6-2.
An under-strength Argentina were without both Juan Martin del Potro and David Nalbandian for the tie and struggled from the outset.
Stepanek beat Juan Monaco in straight sets in Friday’s opening singles match before Tomas Berdych made it 2-0 with a four-set win over Leonardo Mayer.
“It feels great. This competition means a lot to us and as long as we can keep our winning streak, it’s great. It’s an honour to play in front of a home crowd. They follow us around the world no matter where we play. This is a thank you to them for their support,” Stepanek said, www.daviscup.com reported.
The Czech team recorded a thrilling 3-2 win over Spain at the same arena last year.
“Davis Cup means a lot,” Stepanek added, “it’s special for us, for the whole country. We loved so much delivering the trophy last year – it never gets old and we’d like to keep that trophy because it’s beautiful.”
Stepanek and co will play either Canada or 2010 winners, Serbia in the final in November.
The Canadians take a 2-1 lead into Sunday’s deciding singles matches after Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil clinched a five-set win in Saturday’s doubles match up against Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac.
The 6-7 6-4 3-6 7-6 10-8 victory gives Canada a great chance of making their first Davis Cup final.
Milos Raonic will lead his countrymen into new territory if he can overcome world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the Belgrade Arena in the first singles match.
Pospisil will play Jarko Tipsarevic, if required, in the fifth and deciding match.
