The Czech Republic was enjoying a hat-trick of Wimbledon triumphs on Sunday when Iveta Benesova teamed up with Austrian Juergen Melzer to capture the mixed doubles title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was voted WTA's Player of the Year on Monday following a season in which she claimed her debut Grand Slam title, steered the Czech Republic to Fed Cup glory and shot up 32 places in the world rankings.
England face the Czechs away in Group A on Friday before visiting Bulgaria on Monday
Ireland led the way on Friday as they and Croatia reeled off convincing away wins to move within reach of booking their places in the Euro 2012 soccer finals. Ireland won 4-0 in Estonia in the first leg to erase memories of previous play-off disappointments while Croatia crushed Turkey 3-0 in Istanbul.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech has tried out a specially-designed mask to protect his broken nose and allow him to try to play for the Czech Republic in their Euro 2012 playoff against Montenegro on Friday.
Images from the FIFA World Cup qualifying matches on Sunday night.
Kveta Peschke and Lucie Hradecka beat Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2 in the decisive doubles to give the Czech Republic a 3-2 win over Russia in the Fed Cup final on Sunday, clinching the country's first title as an independent nation.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova overpowered Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-4 in the second reverse singles to pull Russia level with the Czech Republic at 2-2 in their Fed Cup final on Sunday.
Davis Cup holders Britain edged into a 2-1 lead in Serbia after Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot won Saturday's doubles.
Paes, Bopanna in men's doubles 3rd round
David Silva struck twice and David Villa netted his 50th international goal as Spain wrecked Scotland's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2012 with a 3-1 win in Group I on Tuesday.
Almost 88 per cent youth have tried some of the other addiction between 16 and 18 years of age, a new survey has revealed.
Somdev Devvarman suffered yet another first round exit in an ATP event as he lost in straight sets to World No 24 Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic at the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo on Monday.
