Czech Republic leads Italy 2-0 in Davis Cup

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AP) -Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek won their opening singles matches for the Czech Republic to take a 2-0 lead over Italy in the first round of the Davis Cup on Friday.

Stepanek had to dig deep to overcome Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and then No. 7-ranked Berdych fought harder than expected to defeat the 135th-ranked Simone Bolelli 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

The Czechs need one more victory to win the best-of-five series and are expected to use Berdych and Stepanek in Saturday's doubles against Daniele Braccialli and Potito Starace.

Berdych served 17 aces in the match on the indoor hard court at CEZ Arena but it was only in the fourth set when he clearly showed his superiority. He broke Bolelli in the first game and jumped out to a 5-1 lead, converting his first match point with an ace.

"I know him well and I expected such a game," Berdych said. "He's got a talent to be much higher (in the rankings).

"I enjoyed it toward the end and hope we'll continue in the same way tomorrow."

Berdych also served out the first set with an ace. Bolelli fought back in the second set, breaking in the 10th game. The Czech was struggling to find an answer to his opponent's powerful forehand, but broke him for a 6-5 lead in the third set and served it out.

"I had to be very patient," Berdych said.

Stepanek, at No. 30 is ranked 12 places higher than his opponent, broke in the third game of the final set and converted his second match point to win in 3 hours, 50 minutes.

Stepanek, who is 11-8 in Davis Cup singles, said he didn't play his typical attacking game because he had a sore throat that affected his performance.

"But when I play for my country, I fight till the end," he said. "It was tough and I'm glad I used my experience to win."

Having lost both previous matches to Stepanek at ATP tournaments, Seppi broke in the 10th game of the opening set.

But Stepanek didn't waste time in the second, breaking Seppi in the opening game before converting his eighth set point to level. The Czech broke twice to win the third set, but was broken twice in the fourth to allow Seppi to send it into a fifth set.

Stepanek said he still wanted to team up with Berdych for Saturdays' doubles.

"I hope that the victory gives me some extra energy," he said.

Reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.

The winner will face either Serbia or Sweden in the quarterfinals in April.