Radek Štěpánek, born November 27, 1978 (age 42) in Karviná, is a Czech tennis player, professional from 1996 to 2017.
In 2004, he reached the final of the Paris-Bercy Masters. In Grand Slams, he reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2006. He reached 11th place in the world rankings in 2006. On February 26, 2006, he won the first ATP title of his career by defeating Belgian Christophe Rochus in the final of the Rotterdam Tournament. In July 2007, he defeated the American James Blake in the final of the Los Angeles tournament, winning his second singles title.
In November 2008, ranked only 26th in the world, he was invited to the Shanghai Masters to replace Andy Roddick, who had withdrawn after his first match, as the other higher ranked and unqualified players had withdrawn. He was beaten (7-6, 6-4) in his first match by defending champion Roger Federer.
In 2012, he won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in doubles with Indian Leander Paes, defeating brothers Bob and Mike Bryan in the final (7-6, 6-2). In 2013, he won his second Grand Slam title in doubles at the US Open, again with Leander Paes.
I think Nick (Kyrgios) has great potential to be the best player in the world.
He won the Davis Cup in 2012 with the Czech Republic, winning the fifth decisive point in the final against Spain, beating Nicolás Almagro 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3. He thus became the first player over 30 years of age to win match point since the Brit James Cecil Parke, who had achieved it on 30 November 1912, 100 years earlier.
The following year, he struck victory again and retained the title. Indeed, in the final between the Czech Republic and Serbia, he once again won match point, beating the young Dušan Lajović (6-3, 6-1, 6-1). He thus broke his own record.
Did you know?
In December 2017, he became coach toNovak Djokovic, notably alongside Andre Agassi, but ended this collaboration in April 2018.
