Roared on by 17,000 partisan fans Novak Djokovic fired Serbia ahead in the Davis Cup final on Friday but Tomas Berdych hit back for the Czech Republic to leave the tie delicately poised going into the weekend.
As a back surgery has pushed Radek Stepanek out of action, veteran Indian tennis player Leander Paes is looking for a new partner for some part of the 2013 season.
Defending champions Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek had to work hard to cross the first round hurdle in the men's doubles even as Sania Mirza advanced in both the mixed and doubles events at the US Open.
Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek upset second seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Max Mirnyi of Belarus to win the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Saturday. The newly-formed Indo-Czech pair needed 82 minutes to prevail 3-6, 6-1, 10-8.
Leander Paes was, on Saturday, gracious in defeat and conceded that Czech player Adam Pavlasek played "phenomenal" tennis in the Davis Cup doubles game in New Delhi.
Leander Paes had a great day at the Australian Open as he reached the final of the men's doubles event pairing Radek Stepanek and also made it to the mixed doubles semifinals with Elena Vesnina in Melbourne on Thursday.
Veteran Leander Paes advanced to the men's doubles quarterfinals of Wimbledon Championships after the Indian ace and his Czech Republic partner Radek Stepanek pulled off a hard-fought win in London on Wednesday.
Andy Murray was left to rue eight set points that went begging in the first set as he slumped to a shock 7-6(10) 6-2 defeat by Czech veteran Radek Stepanek in the third round of the Aegon Championships on Thursday.
He missed out on a third US Open men's doubles title but Indian tennis star Leander Paes was far from dejected as he insisted that he and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek gave all that they had in the final clash against champions Mike and Bob Bryan.
Janko Tipsarevic emerged as Serbia's hero after he beat Radek Stepanek in the decisive rubber to propel his country to their first Davis Cup final with an nerve-jangling 3-2 win over the Czech Republic.
Leander Paes of India and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek stunned American pair of Bob and Mike Bryan to clinch the Australian Open men's doubles trophy.
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.
India's Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna breezed into the quarter-finals and pre-quarter-finals of the men's and mixed doubles respectively at Wimbledon on Monday, but there was bad news on the Indian challenge in the women's doubles as Sania Mirza and Liezel Huber exited in the third round.
Spain captain Alex Corretja has defended his decision to pick Nicolas Almagro for the Davis Cup final after the holders were beaten 3-2 by Czech Republic when Almagro lost the decisive singles rubber to Radek Stepanek on Sunday.
India were handed a tough Davis Cup draw, being pitted against top seeds Czech Republic in the World Group Play-offs, to be held from September 18-20 either in New Delhi or Pune.
Japan's Kei Nishikori and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus continued their Australian Open preparations by swiftly marching through to the quarter finals of the Brisbane International on Wednesday.
Indian tennis players enjoyed an all-win day at the US Open as three of them reached the men's doubles third round with their respective partners, while Sania Mirza entered the women's doubles pre-quarters.
Yuki Bhambri, the country's No 1 singles player, will open India's Davis Cup campaign when he takes on world No 85 Lukas Rosol in the first singles of the World Group play-off match against the Czech Republic, in Delhi, on Friday. The second singles will be played between Somdev Devvarman and Czech No 1 Jiri Vesley.
Andy Roddick and number two Tommy Haas moved closer to a showdown at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic with third-round victories.
Trying hard to hold back tears, an emotional Sania Mirza was at loss of words in explaining the defeat with partner Rohan Bopanna in the mixed doubles event of the Rio Olympic Games on Monday. The fourth seed Indian duo of Sania and Bopanna lost the bronze play-off to Czech pair of Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek 1-6 5-7. Sania, who is already 29 and has recoverd from three career-threarening injuries, knows that it was her last and best chance to win an Olympic medal.
Sania Mirza, who is teaming up with Israeli Shahar Peer, is seeded 16th in the ladies championships at Wimbledon.
Mahesh Bhupathi Radek Stepanek advanced to the semi-finals of the men's doubles at the French Open beating second seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi.
Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic entered the semifinals in men's doubles while another Indian Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau lost 5-7, 3-6 to the 10th-seeded British-Australian pair of Jamie Murray and Casey Dellacqua in the mixed doubles pre-quarters at the Wimbledon Championships in London on Thursday.
Leander Paes created history on Saturday, becoming the first Indian to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open men's doubles title with Radek Stepanek.
The Swiss former world number one has confirmed engagement with Czech player Radek Stepanek.
Serbia's World No 2 Novak Djokovic has been left out of Saturday's doubles in the Davis Cup final against holders CzechRepublic, with Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac named to play against Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.
34-year-old Jonas Bjorkman and 21-year-old Marcos Baghdatis are the unlikely semi-finalists at Wimbledon
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi easily advanced to the quarter-finals of the US $ 2,615,000 Cincinnati Masters tournaments along with their respective partners. The sixth seeded pair of Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic defeated Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and Rogier Wassen of Netherlands 6-4, 6-2 in the second round. Meanwhile, Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles got a walkover from Czech pair Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.
The top seeds won 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to set up a second round clash with Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek.
The Indo-Australian pair got the better of Rainer Schuettler and Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of Dubai Open.
Meanwhile, Mahesh Bhupathi and Radek Stepanek from the Czech Republic advanced to the third round, beating Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Filippo Volandri of Italy.
However, Mahesh Bhupathi and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek were ousted by the French duo of Julien Bennetean and Richard Gasquet at the Pacific Life Open.
Top seed Rafael Nadal survived a scare from Radek Stepanek before winning his BNP Paribas Open second round match in three tight sets at Indian Wells on Saturday.
Double Davis Cup winner Tomas Berdych has called for the annual competition to be played every two years, warning the current format was destroying tennis's top team prize.
Roger Federer overcame Radek Stepanek in four sets as Switzerland and the Czech Republic battled to 1-1 after the opening singles matches in their Davis Cup World Group playoff on Friday.
Leander Paes enjoyed an all-win outing to enter the quarter-finals of the men's and mixed doubles at the US Open. However, it was a mixed day for Sania Mirza in the season's last Grand Slam in New York.
Indian players enjoyed a fine outing at the Wimbledon with the seasoned trio of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna winning their respective men's doubles matches to progress into the third round in London.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza stormed into the mixed doubles semifinals besides reaching the doubles quarterfinals, but compatriot Leander Paes exited the US Open with unexpected defeats in both his events.
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