Czech Republic retains Davis Cup title

Serbia's Novak Djokovic leaves the award ceremony after Serbia lost their Davis Cup World Group final tennis match against Czech Republic in Belgrade November 17, 2013.  [Photo/Agencies]

He also lost his first singles against Berdych on Friday - his first career best-of-five-sets match - and found himself thrust into by far the biggest match of his life against Stepanek. The 23-year-old Serb started well, however, breaking Stepanek in the opening game of the match. But the 34-year-old Czech responded swiftly with two consecutive breaks to take a 5-2 lead.

Stepanek controlled the match from then on, and broke Lajovic for 3-1 in the final set, and then added another before serving out the match.

"I was fighting to my last breath, but obviously this wasn't enough," Lajovic said. "Of course, I am very disappointed. Right now I need to cool off my head and think what to do next."

Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said his team's chances of winning the title were crippled by Tipsarevic's injury and a 12-month doping ban against Viktor Troicki, who helped Serbia win its only title.

"We couldn't find the real replacement for the two, it was like playing tennis without one leg," Bogdanovic said. "Dusan is the young gun in our team. Hopefully he is going to use the energy from the team and some experiences from those two matches for his career, even if it wasn't a success."

The Czechs got the crucial point in Saturday's doubles to go up 2-1. The second-ranked Djokovic then kept alive Serbia's hopes by beating Berdych 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-2 earlier Sunday to improve his career record against the Czech to 15-2.

"We both entered this match with a lot of tension," Djokovic said. "I managed to break his resistance in the second set."

Berdych was leading 5-4 in the second-set tiebreaker when he sent wide an easy backhand volley at the net. Then he lost a point on his serve, and Djokovic took his first chance to serve out the set.

Czech Republic's team members (L-R) Tomas Berdych, Radek Stepanek, captain Vladimir Safarik, Lukas Rosol and Jan Hajek pose with the Davis Cup throphy after winning their final tennis match against Serbia in Belgrade November 17, 2013.  [Photo/Agencies]

Djokovic, who improved his winning streak to 24 matches since losing the US Open final against Rafael Nadal in September, converted his first match point with an ace, bringing cheers from the 17,000-strong boisterous Serbian crowd at the arena.

"It's really hard to find right and correct words to explain at what level he's playing and how strong Novak is," Berdych said. "He is now the best player when he's playing indoors, and that's what he proved today."