TENNIS in DEPTH.

Of all the top players, the one that nobody wants to play against is Radek Stepanek. He has an irritating style of play that defies the best laid plans of his opposition. He can be a serve and volleyer, or a baseline and drop shot exponent, or he can be a combination of both styles. He is unpredictable, hard to read, impossible to wear down, and a proverbial pain in the ass. And he carries the hopes of his country’s success in the upcoming Davis Cup, on his shoulders. One thing for sure is that he won’t go down quietly to the Spanish powerhouse. He will find a way to win at least one of his singles matches, and the doubles. It will be up to his team mate Thomas Berdych to win just one of his matches to give the Czech team a victory.

In the Davis Cup first round tie against France, he lost his opening match to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. But he regained his confidence and won the doubles rubber the next day and his second singles match against Gilles Simon in straight sets to give the Czech Republic its way to the quarter-finals. Then, in the Davis Cup quarter-finals, he won the deciding fifth rubber to lead his country to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, Stepanek battled Ivo Karlovic to a 6-7 7-6 7-6 6-7 16-14 victory in a marathon opener in which the 82 games played equalled the highest number in a Davis Cup rubber since the introduction of the tiebreak in 1989. In that match, he was aced 78 times, but overall hit more winners with over 170 (including service winners). The match was one of the longest in the history of the Davis Cup, lasting 5 h 59 min. There were only three breaks of serve in this match.

He had been engaged to Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis, but they split up in August 2007. Štěpánek is currently dating Czech tennis player Nicole Vaidišová.

Stepanek also owns a condominium in Bradenton, Florida. He is coached by former Australian Open champion Petr Korda.

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