Radek Štěpánek

Radek Štěpánek

Country	Czech Republic
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Born	27 November 1978 (1978-11-27) Karviná, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	76 kg (170 lb; 12.0 st)
Turned pro	1996
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$7,387,297
Singles
Career record	306–217 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	5
Highest ranking	No. 8 (July 10, 2006)
Current ranking	No. 31 (January 9, 2012)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	3R (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009)
French Open	4R (2008)
Wimbledon	QF (2006)
US Open	4R (2009)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (2008)
Doubles
Career record	184–125 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	13
Highest ranking	No. 13 (16 September 2002)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (2012)
French Open	SF (2007)
Wimbledon	3R (2004)
US Open	F (2002)
Last updated on: 28 January 2012.

Radek Štěpánek ((Czech pronunciation: [ˈradɛk ˈʃcɛpaːnɛk]; born 27 November 1978 in Karviná) is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.

Career

Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles. He is known for his after the shot grunting, his over the top celebrations and his many relationships with WTA players.

Štěpánek first came to mainstream notice when he defeated former world no.1 Gustavo Kuerten in 5 sets on his way to the 3rd round of the 2003 Australian Open.

2006 was Štěpánek's best year to date, he found himself on the verge of getting into the top ten of ATP rankings, as he defeated José Acasuso in the semi-finals of the Masters Series event in Hamburg. He went on to lose the final in straight sets against Spain's Tommy Robredo. At that point, he achieved a career-high ATP world ranking of No. 11 in singles.

Earlier in 2006, he won his first ATP singles title, beating Christophe Rochus in Rotterdam, but he had yet to progress beyond the 3rd round of a Grand Slam tournament until he got into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, where he was eliminated by 34-year-old Jonas Björkman, after holding match point at 7–6 in the 4th set tiebreak.

This performance helped Štěpánek break into the top 10 and achieve his highest world ranking of No. 8 using a Völkl DNX 9. However, after Wimbledon, Štěpánek was out of action for the rest of the year due to a chronic neck injury.

In the second round of the 2007 U.S. Open, Štěpánek played a superb match against third seed Novak Djokovic, which he ended up losing after 4h44 of play in a fifth set tiebreak: 7–6, 6–7, 7–5, 5–7, 6–7.

Earlier in 2007, he won his second ATP singles title, beating James Blake in Los Angeles in three sets.

2008

In 2008, he achieved some good results such as reaching the final in San Jose but lost to Andy Roddick. He also made it to the semi-finals in the Rome Masters losing to Novak Djokovic after he retired due to heat exhaustion. In the 2008 Summer Olympics, he lost to Michaël Llodra in the first round in 3 sets. The final score was 6–4, 6–7, 9–11. Štěpánek finished the season ranked 27, but attended the end of year Masters Cup as an alternate. He was vacationing in Thailand so was able to come to the tournament held in Shanghai without delay. Since he did not have his own tennis gear which got stuck in customs (they were sent from home), he had to borrow a racquet from Novak Djokovic and socks from Andy Murray. After Andy Roddick pulled out through injury before his second match, Štěpánek entered the tournament with two round robin ties to play against Roger Federer and Gilles Simon. He gave the Number 2 seed Federer a tough match, losing 7–6, 6–4. But he was beaten comprehensively by Simon, losing 6–1, 6–4.

2009

Štěpánek started his 2009 season at the Brisbane International with a new Bosworth racquet, where he claimed his third ATP title after coming back from a set down to defeat Fernando Verdasco 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 in the final. Then, at the Australian Open, he made it to the third round and was overpowered by Verdasco, 6–4, 6–0, 6–0.

At the SAP Open in San Jose, he won his fourth ATP singles title beating American Mardy Fish in a three set final. He also snapped a four-match losing streak in the tournament against Andy Roddick, upsetting him 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 in the semi-final. He also captured the doubles title after teaming up with German Tommy Haas, making it his first time ever to win the singles and doubles titles at the same tournament week.

In the Davis Cup first round tie against France, he lost his opening match to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. But he regained his confidence and won the doubles rubber the next day and his second singles match against Gilles Simon in straight sets to give the Czech Republic its way to the quarter-finals. Then, in the Davis Cup quarter-finals, he won the deciding fifth rubber to lead his country to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, Stepanek battled Ivo Karlović to a 6–7, 7–6, 7–6, 6–7, 16–14 victory in a marathon opener in which the 82 games played equalled the highest number in a Davis Cup rubber since the introduction of the tiebreak in 1989. In that match, he was aced 78 times, but overall hit more winners – over 170 (including service winners).^{[citation needed]} The match was one of the longest in the history of the Davis Cup, lasting 5 h 59 min. There were only three breaks of serve in this match. In the finals of the Davis Cup versus Spain, Stepanek lost to David Ferrer after being 2 sets up, 1–6, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4, 8–6. The Czech Republic lost 5–0 to Spain.

2010

Stepanek returned to the Brisbane International to defend the title he won in the previous year (d. Verdasco). He managed to make a second-successive final appearance; but failed to defend the title, losing to Andy Roddick 6–7, 6–7. He also teamed up with Tomáš Berdych to reach the doubles quarter-finals, only to lose to eventual champions Jérémy Chardy and Marc Gicquel. Seeded 13th at the 2010 Australian Open, he lost in the 1st round to Ivo Karlović in five sets; 6–2, 6–7, 4–6, 6–3, 4–6.

2011

Stepanek began the 2011 ATP season with a third successive appearance at the 2011 Brisbane International, hoping for a third successive finals appearance, despite only being ranked No.62 in the ATP rankings. For the first round he was drawn against world #67, German Tobias Kamke. Despite struggling for the first set of the match, he eventually won 5–7 6–1 6–4, to set up a second round match against the American Mardy Fish, the fourth seed in the tournament. Stepanek blazed through the match, thrashing the world No.16 Fish 6–3 6–1. In the quarter-final against seventh seed and world No.37 Florian Mayer he had a dominant start, leading 5–1 in the first set before Mayer managed to break Stepanek's service. However, he continued his winning streak, emerging victorious 6–3 6–3 to place himself in the first semi-final against Robin Söderling, where he lost.

Stepanek exited the 2011 French Open in the first round, losing in straight sets to Frenchman Richard Gasquet. He defeated Gael Monfils in the final of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Always the entertainer, Stepanek performed his famed dance move -- "The Worm" -- after his victory. Stepanek said the idea for the move actually came to him while he was enjoying himself at a bar.

2012

In January 2012, Stepanek won the Australian Open Men's doubles title, partnering Leander Paes. They beat top seeds Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan in the final.

Personal life

He had been engaged to Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis, but they split up in August 2007. Štěpánek was engaged to former top-ten Czech tennis player Nicole Vaidišová. They married on 17 July 2010.

Stepanek's father Vlastimil was a tennis coach, his brother a policeman and his mother a librarian.

Stepanek also owns a condominium in Bradenton, Florida. He is coached by former Australian Open champion Petr Korda. He endorses ALEA clothing-apparel, Nike shoes and Bosworth racquets.

Major Finals

Grand Slam

Doubles: 2 (1–1)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2002	US Open	Hard	Jiří Novák	Max Mirnyi Mahesh Bhupathi	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Winner	2012	Australian Open	Hard	Leander Paes	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	7–6(7–1), 6–2

ATP Masters Series

Singles: 2 (0–2)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	2004	Paris, France	Carpet (i)	Marat Safin	3–6, 6–7(5–7), 3–6
Runner-up	2006	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Tommy Robredo	1–6, 3–6, 3–6

ATP Career Finals

Singles: 12 (5–7)

Legend Grand Slam (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–2) ATP World Tour 500 Series (2–1) ATP World Tour 250 Series (3–4) Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final Runner-up 1. 1 November 2004 Paris, France Carpet (i) Marat Safin 3–6, 6–7(5–7), 3–6 Runner-up 2. 31 January 2005 Milan, Italy Carpet (i) Robin Söderling 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–7(5–7) Runner-up 3. 26 September 2005 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Hard (i) Jonas Björkman 3–6, 6–7(4–7) Runner-up 4. 21 May 2006 Hamburg, Germany Clay Tommy Robredo 1–6, 3–6, 3–6 Winner 1. 13 June 2006 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) Christophe Rochus 6–0, 6–3 Winner 2. 22 July 2007 Los Angeles, United States Hard James Blake 7–6(9–7), 5–7, 6–2 Runner-up 5. 24 February 2008 San José, U.S. Hard Andy Roddick 4–6, 5–7 Winner 3. 11 January 2009 Brisbane, Australia Hard Fernando Verdasco 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 Winner 4. 15 February 2009 San José, U.S. Hard (i) Mardy Fish 3–6, 6–4, 6–2 Runner-up 6. 22 February 2009 Memphis, U.S. Hard (i) Andy Roddick 5–7, 5–7 Runner-up 7. 10 January 2010 Brisbane, Australia Hard Andy Roddick 6–7(2–7), 6–7(7–9) Winner 5. 7 August 2011 Washington D.C., U.S. Hard Gaël Monfils 6–4, 6–4 Doubles: 23 (14–9) Legend Grand Slam (1–1) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (2–3) ATP World Tour 250 Series (11–5) Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final Winner 1. 26 April 1999 Prague, Czech Republic Clay Martin Damm Mark Keil Nicolás Lapentti 6–0, 6–2 Winner 2. 9 April 2001 Estoril, Portugal Clay Michal Tabara Donald Johnson Nenad Zimonjić 6–4, 6–1 Winner 3. 30 April 2001 Munich, Germany Clay Petr Luxa Jaime Oncins Daniel Orsanic 5–7, 6–2, 7–6(7–5) Runner-up 1. 26 August 2001 Long Island, United States Hard Leoš Friedl Jonathan Stark Kevin Ullyett 6–1, 6–4 Runner-up 2. 30 September 2001 Hong Kong, China Hard Petr Luxa Karsten Braasch André Sá 6–0, 7–5 Winner 4. 8 October 2001 Vienna, Austria Hard (i) Martin Damm Jiří Novák David Rikl 6–3, 6–2 Runner-up 3. 17 February 2002 Copenhagen, Denmark Hard (i) Jiří Novák Julian Knowle Michael Kohlmann 7–6(8), 7–5 Winner 5. 29 April 2002 Munich, Germany Clay Petr Luxa Petr Pála Pavel Vízner 6–0, 6–7(4–7), [11–9] Runner-up 4. 08 September 2002 New York, United States Hard Jiří Novák Max Mirnyi Mahesh Bhupathi 6–3, 3–6, 6–4 Runner-up 5. 13 October 2002 Vienna, Austria Hard (i) Jiří Novák Joshua Eagle Sandon Stolle 6–4, 6–3 Winner 6. 27 January 2003 Milan, Italy Carpet (i) Petr Luxa Tomáš Cibulec Pavel Vízner 6–4, 7–6(7–4) Winner 7. 16 February 2004 Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard (i) Paul Hanley Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram 5–7, 7–6(7–5), 7–5 Winner 8. 12 July 2004 Stuttgart, Germany Clay Jiří Novák Simon Aspelin Todd Perry 6–2, 6–4 Winner 9. 13 September 2004 Delray Beach, United States Hard Leander Paes Gastón Etlis Martín Rodríguez 6–0, 6–3 Runner-up 6. 10 October 2004 Lyon, France Carpet (i) Jonas Björkman Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram 7–6(2), 6–2 Winner 10. 7 February 2005 Marseille, France Hard (i) Martin Damm Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5) Winner 11. 21 February 2005 Dubai, United Emirates Hard Martin Damm Jonas Björkman Fabrice Santoro 6–2, 6–4 Winner 12. 13 February 2006 Marseille, France Hard (i) Martin Damm Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor 6–2, 6–7(4–7), [10–3] Runner-up 7. 8 January 2007 Adelaide, Australia Hard (i) Novak Djokovic Wesley Moodie Todd Perry 6–4, 3–6, [15–13] Runner-up 8. 4 March 2007 Dubai, United Emirates Hard Mahesh Bhupathi Fabrice Santoro Nenad Zimonjić 7–5, 6–7(3), [10–7] Winner 13. 15 February 2009 San Jose, United States Hard (i) Tommy Haas Rohan Bopanna Jarkko Nieminen 6–2, 6–3 Runner-up 9. 8 August 2010 Washington, United States Hard Tomáš Berdych Mardy Fish Mark Knowles 4–6, 7–6(7), [10–7] Winner 14. 28 January 2012 Melbourne, Australia Hard Leander Paes Bob Bryan Mike Bryan 7–6(7–1), 6–2 Singles Performance Timeline Key W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A P Z# PO SF-B F NMS Won tournament, or reached Final, Semifinal, Quarterfinal, Round 4, 3, 2, 1, played in Round Robin or lost in Qualification Round 3, Round 2, Round 1, Absent from a tournament or Participated in a team event, played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-Off, won a bronze or silver match at the Olympics. The last is for a Masters Series/1000 tournament that was relegated (Not a Masters Series). This table is current through to the 2012 Australian Open. Tournament 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 W–L Grand Slam Tournaments Australian Open A A LQ A A 3R 2R 3R 2R 3R 1R 3R 1R 2R 1R 11–10 French Open LQ A A A LQ 2R 1R 3R 3R 2R 4R 3R A 1R 11–8 Wimbledon A LQ LQ LQ 3R 3R 2R 2R QF 1R 3R 4R A 1R 15–9 US Open A A LQ A 1R 3R 1R 2R A 2R 3R 4R 1R 2R 10–9 Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–2 7–4 2–4 6–4 7–3 4–4 7–4 10–4 0–2 2–4 0–1 47–36 ATP World Tour Finals Tour Finals RR 0–2 ATP Masters Series Indian Wells A 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R 3R 2R 2R 1R 1–9 Miami LQ A 4R 3R 4R 4R 4R 4R 4R A 2R 16–8 Monte Carlo A 1R 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 1R A 2R 4–8 Rome A 3R 2R QF 3R 2R SF 3R A A 15–7 Madrid A A A QF A 1R 2R 1R A A 3–4 Canada 3R 1R A 1R A SF 1R 1R 1R 1R 6–8 Cincinnati LQ 1R LQ 1R A 2R 1R 3R 1R 3R 5–7 Shanghai Not Masters Series QF 1R 2R 4–3 Paris 2R 1R F SF A A 2R SF 3R 1R 15–8 Hamburg A 1R A 2R F 1R A NMS 6–4 Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–2 5-8 8–5 12–9 10–5 9–8 9–8 12–9 2–5 5–7 0–0 75–66 Career Statistics Titles-Finals 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–2 1–2 1–1 0–1 2–3 0–1 1–1 0–0 5–12 Year End Ranking 165 165 277 542 63 46 33 20 19 29 26 12 62 28 307–218 References External links Radek Štěpánek at the Association of Tennis Professionals Radek Štěpánek at the International Tennis Federation Radek Štěpánek at the Davis Cup Štěpánek Recent Match Results Štěpánek World Ranking History