Sep 19, 2009, 16:07 GMT
Porec, Croatia - Thomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek completed their two-man weekend sweep of Croatia to put the Czech Republic into a first-ever Davis Cup final Saturday after clinching the weekend tie 3-0 with a doubles win.
The pair who each won marathon singles rubbers a day earlier, combined for a defeat of Croatians Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 to secure the December 4-6 finals place against the winner from holder Spain and Israel.
In Murcia, southern Spain, Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo were bidding to see the Spaniards through against Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.
Spain lead 2-0 going into the doubles as the nation bids for a place in the title match for the 10th time in the last decade.
Before the nation divided into Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, Czechoslovakia won the Davis Cup in 1980, defeating Italy on carpet in Prague in the final. It also reached the 1975 final, losing to Sweden.
Berdych and Stepanek, playing their fifth Davis doubles rubber together since pairing up in 2007 against Switzerland, stand undefeated at 5-0.
The pair took two and a quarter hours to overwhelm the untried Croatian pairing in a loss which doomed the 2005 champion hosts from any fightback possibility of reaching a second Davis Cup final.
The defeat was bitter for Croatia, having lost only once in the previous dozen home ties.
It was the first semi-final in 13 years for the Czechs who lost to Sweden the last time they reached this level.
The winners broke on five of seven opportunities while holding the Croatian 0-2 and committing just 11 unforced errors.
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