6 hours, 78 aces: Czechs win Davis Cup marathon

Sep 18, 6:52 pm EDT

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POREC, Croatia (AP)—Radek Stepanek overcame a record 78 aces to defeat Ivo Karlovic in five sets in one of the longest matches in tennis history on Friday, when the Czech Republic took a 2-0 lead over Croatia in the Davis Cup semifinals.

Stepanek won 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (2), 16-14 in a match that lasted 5 hours, 59 minutes. The longest known Davis Cup match was 6 hours, 22 minutes between John McEnroe and Mats Wilander in 1982. The 82 games equaled the Davis Cup record since tiebreakers were introduced in 1989.

“I feel like I was in a 10-round boxing match,” Karlovic said. “Everything hurts.”

In the second singles Friday, Tomas Berdych beat U.S. Open quarterfinalist Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 to put the Czechs on the verge of reaching the final for the first time since they won it in 1980.

Karlovic wasted four match points in the final set. Stepanek won when the 6-foot-10 Croat sent a smash wide. The were only five break-point chances in the match.

“I fought for my country,” Stepanek said. “It was an amazing game.”

This marathon equaled the number of games from a 1991 Americas Zone Group II match when Richard Ashby of Barbados beat Jose Medrano of Bolivia.

Karlovic obliterated both the men’s record and Davis Cup record for aces— marks he held. He had 55 aces in a loss to Lleyton Hewitt at the French Open in May. His previous Davis Cup mark was 47—also shared by Gustavo Kuerten and Marc Rosset—when he defeated James Blake at the World Group quarterfinals this year.

Croatia’s Marin Cilic plays Tomas Berdych in the second singles Friday. The winner of the best-of-five series will face Spain or Israel in the final.

Croatia, the 2005 champion, has lost only once at home in its past 12 Davis Cup series. The Czechs, who won in 1980 when the nation competed as Czechoslovakia, are playing their first Davis Cup semifinal in 13 years.

Updated Sep 18, 6:52 pm EDT
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15 Comments

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  1. Go Kansas
    15. Posted by Go Kansas Mon Sep 21 6:01am EDT

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    Not true, all 4 match points were on Radek's serve.
  2. Marek
    14. Posted by Marek Sat Sep 19 11:10pm EDT

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    Radek fought of 4 Match Points while Karlovic was serving!!! Props to him for pulling it out! Boy that overhead that Karlovic missed was a huge choke...in the end the more rounded player won and of course the CZECH's!!!
  3. Doug S
    13. Posted by Doug S Sat Sep 19 3:12pm EDT

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    Tennis would be a better and faster game with only a single serve. Eliminate the free chance to blast an ace. Maybe you could make all matches best of seven sets and still finish faster!
  4. <i>kevinpuray168</i>
    12. Posted by kevinpuray168 Sat Sep 19 9:02am EDT

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    it was, i started tennis because of this match :)
  5. <i>sportsbest@...</i>
    11. Posted by sportsbest@... Sat Sep 19 5:57am EDT

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    if only nadal can take a page from karlovic's serve, then he can be number 1 for a longer time
  6. <i>mrmatte</i>
    10. Posted by mrmatte Sat Sep 19 1:49am EDT

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    so many of these davis cup matches, never broadcast for us to watch, but man, if only we could watch these matches.
  7. Joaquin
    9. Posted by Joaquin Sat Sep 19 1:31am EDT

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    This wasn't an epic match. Epic is when Nadal played Verdasco for over 5 hours in the middle of the night in the Australian Open. Each point averaged about 17 hits; some as much as 25. In that match you had two warriors smashing, running, sliding, jumping. In this one, you had one guy making aces while the other watched. Then you watched that same ace-king look like a fool with all those unforced errors.

    Karlovic has no game, just a serve. That's how a guy can ace you 78 times and still lose. He has no backhand, no forehand, and obviously no overhand. His net game is suspect and he can't sustain rallies of any kind. He's one dimensional and that's why he doesn't win any tournaments. You can't have a cannon and nothing else.
  8. pete'sbest14
    8. Posted by pete'sbest14 Fri Sep 18 11:25pm EDT

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    #5 Theo:

    Absolutely amazing comment! Unbelievable insight, intelligent and articulate. "I" even understood your points :-)
    This must have been an amazing match, makes my tired just reading about it. Kudos to Ivo's blasting style of tennis with 78 aces and to Radek's ability to "counter-punch" with returns!! It's a match I would have loved to have seen. It sounds both entertaining & exhilarating and I'm sure both these guys are exhausted~
    Gotta love this game :-)
  9. MG
    7. Posted by MG Fri Sep 18 10:14pm EDT

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    great comment Theo, right on.
  10. Robbie
    6. Posted by Robbie Fri Sep 18 8:35pm EDT

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    No doubt he won most or all of his serve games until the tie break. He normally has a problem with variety and long rallies. He still has a lot to learn. Oponent just give him more balls to return and he will make the errors. Thats how Federer and Murray and those guys with good court coverage cut down the big servers.
  11. Theo H
    5. Posted by Theo H Fri Sep 18 8:03pm EDT

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    78 aces, wow!!!! almost amount to three love sets with 18 love games. Incredible!!!!
    however, i was always wondering why these tall guys with excellent powerful service, earning that
    many outright winners---Ace, probably also needing to add a lot of serves that forced the receiver to make errors, were unable to win the matches. an easy math calculation: 82 games divided by 2, karlovic got 41 games to serve, i.e. on average he had almost 2 aces per game. if making best of them at the crucial moment---game points or set points, the outcome would be shocking.
    so, the question is that these players with powerful service are too dependent on their exclusive weapon, but paying less attention to their receiving game as well as the skill, techniques for keeping long rallies alive. tennis is art, meaning that lots of stuff should be taken care about: wisdom, stamina---physical fitness, techniques, court coverage, strategy & tactics, mental toughness. these must be combined together, then a well-trained excellent player will pop up in front of us. only depending on mono style of play, no matter how good she/he may be, at most, around top 10, probably hopeless for the one on the top of the peak.
  12. Scotty 2 Hotty
    4. Posted by Scotty 2 Hotty Fri Sep 18 7:01pm EDT

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    I just saw them talk about it on sportscenter..CRAZY
  13. Josh S
    3. Posted by Josh S Fri Sep 18 6:45pm EDT

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    OMG, how can Dr. Ivo serve up 78 and still lose?? How come Stepanek couldn't play like this at the US Open?? Insane is what this is, LOL.
  14. Marek
    2. Posted by Marek Fri Sep 18 4:56pm EDT

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    Cesi do to ho, konecne Stepanek hral tak jak ma, jenom kdyby tak hral proti Djokovicovi!!! v U. S. Open!
  15. NightWing
    1. Posted by NightWing Fri Sep 18 4:35pm EDT

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    WOW!!! What an EPIC match!!!
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