Czech Republic wins Davis Cup title 3-2

PRAGUE Radek Stepanek upset Nicolas Almagro in the final reverse singles to give the Czech Republic a 3-2 victory in the Davis Cup final and its first title as an independent nation.

The 37th-ranked Stepanek beat his 11th-ranked opponent 6-4, 7-6 (0), 3-6, 6-3.

The 33-year old Stepanek, with some fine play at the net, converted his second match point to send more than 14,500 noisy fans at the O2 Arena into wild celebration Sunday.

The victory means the Czechs completed a rare double just two weeks after the women secured the Fed Cup title in the same arena. No country has won both competitions in the same year since the United States in 1990.

The Czechs' only Davis Cup victory came in 1980 as Czechoslovakia, which split in 1993.