08.06.2013 13:58:17 | Radek Stepanek won the Challenger in Prostejov for the third time in his career. In the Czech finals of the 20th UniCredit Czech Open he defeated the fifteen-year-younger Jiri Vesely 6:4, 6:2. Stepanek celebrated the title after nine years. He was a champion in 2003 and 2004. „I’m very glad I managed, physically as well as mentally, to play five matches in five days and I really appreciate the victory,” said Stepanek who underwent a surgery of neck vertebrae in January and who is only trying to regain form. He dominated the finals against Vesely thanks to his experience and versatile game. He took the lead very early in each set and dictated the tempo. He lost the first match ball by serving a double fault but he converted the other one by a volley.
„Considering the surgery in January, I just played match by match at this tournament. I wanted do my best and win as many matches as possible. Once you come here, you want to stay until the very last day and become the champion. That’s what I’ve managed for the third time today. This challenger has a lot of charm for me. Moreover, this year’s been very special because it’s been my first title after the comeback. It gives me a lot of self-confidence and mental comfort. It’s also nice to know that I can show good performance even if not giving a hundred percent performance. It confirms I’m on a right track and just have to go on and try hard. The feeling of victory itself is priceless.”
How did Stepanek prepare for the finals? “Same as for any other match. I knew from the beginning what I should play. I had a conductor’s baton in my hand from the very beginning. I knew that if I take away his strongest element, his serve, he won’t be that aggressive from the base line to cause me major problems and I’ll be able to change and adopt the rhythm of the game. Slow, fast, surprise, stop ball, I had time for all that and that’s why I won.“
