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(2014-12-25 21:50:16) 下一個
With the Davis Cup on the line, Radek Stepanek delivered again. Britton Colquitt Jersey . Stepanek gave the Czech Republic its second straight Davis Cup title Sunday, sweeping past Dusan Lajovic in straight sets in the fifth and decisive match to secure a 3-2 win over Serbia in the final. That made Stepanek the first player in the history of the tournament to decide two consecutive finals in the fifth match, having done the same against Spains Nicolas Almagro last year. "This is an amazing moment," said Stepanek, who beat the 117th-ranked Lajovic 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 after Novak Djokovic had levelled the series for Serbia at 2-2 earlier Sunday. The Czech veteran converted his first match point with a smash to send about a thousand visiting Czech fans at Belgrade Arena into wild celebrations as they blew trumpets and beat their drums. Stepanek spread his hands on the court as Tomas Berdych and other Czech teammates jumped on him. "Its difficult to find right words for emotions I am going through now," Stepanek said. "It was a completely different experience than last year. I was very focused, concentrated, I knew what to do on court. We made history for our country today." Last years victory for the first for the Czechs as an independent nation. Serbia won its only crown in 2010, beating France in Belgrade. Lajovic, who has a 5-12 record on the ATP tour and had never played in the Davis Cup before this weekend, replaced Janko Tipsarevic, who missed the final with a heel injury. 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 wasnt 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 teams chances of winning the title were crippled by Tipsarevics injury and a 12-month doping ban against Viktor Troicki, who helped Serbia win its only title. "We couldnt 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 wasnt a success." The Czechs got the crucial point in Saturdays doubles to go up 2-1. The second-ranked Djokovic then kept alive Serbias 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. Djokovic, who improved his winning streak to 24 matches since losing the U.S. 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. "Its really hard to find right and correct words to explain at what level hes playing and how strong Novak is," Berdych said. "He is now the best player when hes playing indoors, and thats what he proved today." Derek Wolfe Jersey For Sale . The Dutch were knocked from top spot despite winning two European Championship qualifiers, including an 11-0 victory over San Marino. Germany stays third and Uruguay rises to a best-ever fourth. Rahim Moore Jersey For Sale . </br></br> Apparently this took place at a soccer stadium for a club match in Brazil. DALLAS -- The way the New Jersey Devils defence played on Thursday night, they didnt need much offence. What they did need, the Devils got from Patrik Elias. Elias scored a power-play goal 40 seconds into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars. "It always comes back to bite you when you play that poorly and take a penalty," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. New Jersey allowed only 16 shots and scored twice on the power play. "Huge, two power-play goals," New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer said. "It probably didnt need to get to overtime if we could have buried some of our chances, but we did on the power play and that was critical." The Stars tied the score on Tyler Seguins goal with 52 seconds remaining in regulation play. Dainius Zubrus scored in the first period and Travis Zajac added a goal in the second to give New Jersey a 2-0 lead. Jamie Benn scored on a backhand at 10:52 of the second to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Devils, allowing the fewest shots per game of any NHL team, held Dallas to its season low. Cory Schneider made 14 saves for his second victory over the Stars this season. Elias and Zajac each had an assist and Jaromir Jagr assisted on two goals for New Jersey. Seguin added an assist for Dallas. Kari Lehtonen made 21 saves. He has allowed only six goals in losing three of his last four games against New Jersey The Devils dominated early. Dallas didnt put a shot on goal until a 5-on-3 advantage more than five minutes in. Even during that 75-second stretch, the Stars had only one shot. "Im embarrassed myself with that," Seguin said. "Thats unacceptable." Ruff said: "It was just a killer." DeBoer called the 5-on-3 penalty kill "huge." "t;It would have been easy there to lose our focus. Peyton Manning Jersey For Sale. We didnt. We buckled down. To get out of the first period up was key." New Jersey scored first, at 10:59 of the first period. Zubrus sent a slap shot from the right faceoff circle over Lehtonens glove and into the right corner. Dallas had its best scoring chance a minute and a half before the end of the first period. Cody Eakin took a pass in the slot but shot the puck into Schneiders body. For the period, New Jersey outshot the Stars 7-4. The four shots tied Dallas season low for a period. Lehtonen prevented another Devils goal three minutes into the second period when he made a glove save on Zajac while prone on the ice. Zajac did score on a power play at 9:50 of the second, when he tipped Damien Brunners drive past Lehtonen. Barely a minute later, Dallas broke through for its first goal against Schneider in more than 90 minutes this season. Benn took a pass from Seguin with his back to the goal and backhanded the puck into the net. New Jersey again had an advantage in shots, 7-6, with the Devils final two shots short-handed NOTES: Schneider has the only shutout against Dallas this season, with 26 saves in a 1-0 victory Jan. 9. . The Devils season low in shots allowed for a game is 15 ... In the Stars previous seven games they averaged 33 shots on goal ... Dallas fewest shots in a game this season had been 18 in a 4-3 victory at Chicago Dec. 3. ... New Jersey won both games between the teams this season ... The Stars streak of scoring a power-play goal in eight consecutive games ended ... Play was stopped during the third period because a panel of glass broke above the boards ... Dallas recalled C Dustin Jeffrey from Texas of the American Hockey League Thursday, but he was inactive for the game. cheap jerseys ' ' '
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