Ostrava (Czech Republic), Feb 11: The Czech Republic are in the Davis Cup quarterfinals after Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek teamed up to win the doubles for the hosts to take an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Italy on Saturday.
Berdych and Stepanek defeated Daniele Braccialli and Potito Starace 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the World Cup.
The Czech pair converted the first match point from Stepanek's forehand volley.
In the first set, the Czechs broke to jump out to a 3-0 lead and Stepanek, who won his maiden Grand Slam title when he teamed with Leander Paes of India in the Australian Open doubles final, served it out.
In the second set, Braccialli dropped serve in the third game and Stepanek converted again with a service winner.
