Serbia will host France in 2010 Davis Cup final after Serbia completed a spirited comeback Sunday, winning the final two singles matches to defeat the Czech Republic 3-2 in Belgrade.
World No. 2 Novak Djokovic recovered from losing the opening set, then suffering a knee injury in the second before defeating Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Janko Tipsarevic, who beat Andy Roddick in the second round of the US Open, then beat Radek Stepanek 6-0, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
Serbia will play for the first time in the Davis Cup final against nine-time champion France in the Dec. 3-5 final. France swept its best-of-five series against Argentina and will contest the title match for a first time since 2002.
Serbia, which competed as part of Yugoslavia from 1995 to 2003, and Serbia & Montenegro for two years after that, trailed the Czech Republic, the Davis Cup finalists last year, 1-2 after Saturday’s play.
France was already assured of its spot after three wins before today. Gilles Simon beat Eduardo Schwank 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, while Arnaud Clement defeated Horacio Zeballos 7-5, 6-1, in two matches reduced to best-of-three sets to seal a 5-0 win.
Djokovic went into the match leading 2-1 against Berdych in career head-to-heads, the seventh-ranked Czech won their Wimbledon semi-final in July in straight sets.
The Serb had a lethargic start, dropping his serve in the seventh game to lose the first set, but drew strength from the support of his hometown crowd in the Belgrade Arena.
Djokovic required medical attention in the second set after attempting a smash and falling heavily and returned to the court with a bandage on his right knee.
However, he did not appear to be hampered, breaking Berdych to go 5-3 ahead before serving out the set.
Djokovic broke serve twice to go up 4-1 in the third and although he had a brief lapse to lose the next game with two straight errors, the Serb quickly refocused to close out the set.
Berdych was broken at 4-4 in the fourth set and Djokovic served out to love to complete a four-set win and level the tie.
“I felt sleepy in the first set but it didn’t last long,” Djokovic said. “I woke up when I fell but fortunately I was not hurt and I felt a volcano of energy coming from the fans.”
“He is a big fighter and he doesn’t need much to get back into a match,” said Berdych, who lost both his singles matches.
Gilles Simon beat Eduardo Schwank 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 and Arnaud Clement beat Horacio Zeballos 7-5 6-1 as France completed a rout of Argentina in Lyon.
“We’ve been lucky enough to just play at home so far,” said France captain Guy Forget.
“The final was already very hard and now it will be even harder because Djokovic and Tipsarevic are very talented. They will probably have 20,000 people behind them. It will be tough.
“Novak is in great form at the moment after his final at the US Open. Whenever they needed him, he responded.
“When he plays for his country, he surpasses himself every time. There’s also Tipsarevic, who saved his team against the Czech Republic.
“But we beat the Australians at their place a few years ago [in the final in 2001], so why not repeat the feat?”