Czechs reach 1st Davis Cup final in 29 years

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Czechs reach 1st Davis Cup final in 29 years

Published Sep 23, 2009

POREC, Croatia(AP) The Czech Republic has reached its first Davis Cup final in 29 years, winning its doubles match for an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Croatia.

Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych defeated Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to decide the best-of-five series. The Czech Republic will play Spain or Israel in the December final.

The Czechs stayed with the players who won Friday's singles matches. Croatia surprisingly picked its top player, Cilic, for doubles in an attempt to stay alive.

This the Czechs' first final since their only Davis Cup triumph in 1980, when Ivan Lendl was on the team. This is only the second loss for 2005 champion Croatia in 13 home matches in the Davis Cup.