Tomas Berdych wins Davis Cup with Czech Republic team

HEAD racquet rebel Tomas Berdych made history when Czech Republic won the first Davis Cup trophy for the first time as independent nation, defeating Spain 3-2. Berdych’s team mate, Radek Stepanek became a national tennis hero after flinching the weekend success with a picture-perfect deciding rubber win against Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-6 (0), 3-6, 6-3 after nearly four hours.

Berdych, the current ATP No. 6, who plays with a HEAD YouTek™ IG Instinct MP, won his opening singles on Friday against Nicolas Almagro and the doubles on Saturday together with Stepanek against the Barclays ATP World Tour champions Granollers/Lopez. "There is no way to describe this victory, nothing can be more beautiful than this," said Berdych during the victory celebrations.

The victory made up for a loss to Spain in the 2009 final. Czechoslovakia won the Davis Cup 30 years ago with members of that team including Ivan Lendl watching from the stands.

Swinging his HEAD YouTek™ IG Speed MP 18/20, Stepanek secured the victory on his second match point and ended a run for the Spanish dynasty which had won four of the last five editions of the worldwide team competition.

The HEAD ATP has been again the official ball of the final. The ball was used in about 50 % of World Group ties contested this season in the prestigious international team competition and also served as official ball in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London earlier this month.