The Czechs beat Serbia 4-1 in the same arena in the quarterfinals, but that was on clay. Now, they opted for a faster hard court to counter the Spanish clay court specialists, who haven’t lost on that surface in 12 years.
Ferrer said the Spaniards have never played on such a fast court.
“We all have problems,” he said. “But we’re ready to play, we’re ready to fight.”
Spanish captain Alex Corretja is expected to use Nicolas Almagro as his second singles player, but could also opt for Feliciano Lopez, who is 4-3 against Berdych and beat him twice on hard court. Almagro lost four of his five matches to Berdych this year.
Corretja said Tuesday that “Feliciano is here in case we need to make any chances.”
As always, Saturday’s doubles match could play a key role, and Spain received a confidence boost when Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez won the ATP finals on Monday by beating Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna of India for their third title of the season.
“For us, it was a very special to win,” Granollers said. “We come here with a lot of confidence after winning in London. We’re ready to fight for everything.”
Berdych and Stepanek are expected to team up for the doubles as well, having an 11-1 record in Davis Cup play. Their only loss came in the 2009 final.
By Andrew P. Napolitano
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Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Covering the world of soccer, including the World Cup, Major League Soccer, D.C. United and the English Premier League and other interesting sporting events.
Happiness is attainable. Morning to night. I love to teach, deal with folks that have an issue and really wish to tackle it and write.
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