Radek Štěpánek

Then, at the Australian Open, he made it to the third round and was overpowered by Verdasco, 6–4, 6–0, 6–0.

At the SAP Open in San Jose, he won his fourth ATP singles title beating American Mardy Fish in a three set final. He also snapped a four-match losing streak in the tournament against Andy Roddick, upsetting him 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 in the semi-final. He also captured the doubles title after teaming up with German Tommy Haas, making it his first time ever to win the singles and doubles titles at the same tournament week.

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 Karlović 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 – over 170 (including service winners). The match was one of the longest in the history of the Davis Cup, lasting 5 h 59 min. Read Less