Why park the Ferrari in the garage?
The Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek made history in the Davis Cup final Sunday, becoming the first player to win consecutive live fifth-set rubbers in Davis Cup finals. The question many people will be debating over the coming days is, “Should Serbia’s Novak Djokovic get an assist for his part in enabling the 34-year-old’s moment of glory?
Djokovic, who easily defeated Stepanek in the first of the five rubbers, did not play in the critical “swing match,” the Saturday doubles. The Czechs won the match against the overmatched Serbs, who put forth outstanding doubles specialist Nenad Zimonjic, who was paired with Ilija Bozoljac, a 28-year-old journeyman with a losing record (2-3) in Davis Cup. They were crushed by Stepanek and the Czech Republic’s top player, ATP No. 7 Tomas Berdych.
As a result, the Czechs led going into the final day by 2-1. Djokovic then came up big against Berdych in the fourth rubber, the battle of the respective No. 1s. But Serbia’s fate in the decisive fifth rubber then lay in the hands of 23-year-old Dusan Lajovic, who has a world ranking of No. 117. And he didn’t stand a chance against wily 34-year-old Stepanek, who is ranked 44th but has been as high as No. 8, brings his A-game for Davis Cup and always has been a very tough out. You wanted to avert your eyes as soon as this one was underway. Lajovic won just five games in the three sets.
The big question that lingers is: Should Djokovic have played doubles? True, he has played a boatload of matches in recent weeks, and, less than a week ago, he won the ATP World Tour Finals. And his participation in doubles by no means ensured a win in that match, either. Berdych and Stepanek would be one of the elite ATP doubles teams -- if they wanted to devote the energy to it.
http://espn.go.com/blog/peter-bodo/post/_/id/509/why-park-the-ferrari-in-the-garage
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