Sean Randall breaks down this weekend’s Davis Cup finale between Spain and the Czech Republic.

“It feels great to be in the semis but not satisfied because we’d like more,” Stepanek said. “We prepared as much as we could and we are looking forward to the tie. Playing Karlovic is always strange and tricky, you get no rhythm. You have few chances and you have to try and take them once they come because there are not many. There will not be much rallies so it’s important to focus all the time.”

Israel had clinched by Saturday after Harel Levy defeated Igor Andreev and Dudi Sela decimated Mikhail Youzhny in the singles, and the standout doubles tandem of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram edged Igor Kunitsyn and former No. 1 Marat Safin in five in Safin’s final Davis Cup appearance.

No Rafael Nadal. No problem for Spain who still captured the Davis Cup title over home favorite Argentina.

Spain was the slight favorite entering the encounter behind world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, but after Rafa pulled with a knee injury, the betting swung heavily toward the Argentine side. Spain’s David Ferrer has had a disastrous second half of the season and enters the tie with little confidence, while Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez does not have a history as a big-match winner.

“I aggravated it pretty bad at the Open and only made things worse,” said the left-handed Bob, who received a cortisone shot prior to the US Open. “I knew if I wanted a chance to play the rest of this year, I had to shut it down now. I can’t even hit any balls.”