Radek Štěpánek
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| Nickname(s) | Steps | |
| Country |  Czech Republic |
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| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| Date of birth | November 27, 1978 | |
| Place of birth | Karviná, Czechoslovakia | |
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | |
| Weight | 75 kg (167 lb) | |
| Turned pro | 1996 | |
| Plays | Right-handed; two-handed backhand | |
| Career prize money | $4,593,186 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 197 - 144 | |
| Career titles: | 2 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 8 (July 10, 2006) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 3rd (2003, 2005, 2007) | |
| French Open | 4th (2008) | |
| Wimbledon | QF (2006) | |
| US Open | 3rd (2003) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 160 - 105 | |
| Career titles: | 12 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 13 (September 16, 2002) | |
Radek Stepanek (Czech:Radek Štěpánek, born November 27, 1978 in Karviná) is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. He uses the serve-and-volley tennis strategy. His sponsors include Volkl and Alea.
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[edit] Career
Stepanek turned professional in 1996. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Stepanek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top level doubles.
2006 was Stepanek'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 semifinals 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. However after Wimbledon, Stepanek 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, Stepanek played a superb match against third seed Novak Djokovic, which he ended up losing after 4h44 of play in the ultimate tie-break of the fifth set. Although he lost the match, his defeat was a close one [7-6 (4), 6–7 (5), 7–5, 5–7, 6–7 (2)].
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 semifinals in the Rome masters losing to Novak Djokovic after he retired.
[edit] Personal life
He had been engaged to Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis, but split up in August 2007.[1][2] He also owns a condominium in Bradenton, Florida. He is coached by former Australian Open champion Petr Korda. Stepanek is currently dating Czech tennis player Nicole Vaidisova.
[edit] ATP Tour Titles (14)
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (2) |
[edit] Singles (2)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 13 June 2006 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Indoor Hard | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Christophe Rochus |
6–0, 6–3 |
| 2. | 22 July 2007 | Los Angeles, U.S. | Outdoor Hard |  James Blake |
7–6(7), 5–7, 6–2 |
[edit] Singles finalist (5)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 2004 | Paris, France | Indoor carpet |  Marat Safin |
6–3, 6–7(5), 6–3 |
| 2. | 2005 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | Indoor hard |  Jonas Björkman |
6–3, 7–6(4) |
| 3. | 2005 | Milan, Italy | Indoor carpet | Robin Söderling |
6–3, 6–7(2), 7–6(5) |
| 4. | 2006 | Hamburg, Germany | Clay |  Tommy Robredo |
6–1, 6–3, 6–3 |
| 5. | 2008 | San José, California, USA | Hard | Andy Roddick |
6–4, 7–5 |
[edit] Doubles (12)
[edit] ITF Singles titles (3)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 3 August 1998 | Segovia Challenger, Segovia, Spain | Hard |  Alex Radulescu |
7–5 7–5 |
| 2. | 2 June 2003 | Czech Open, Prostejov, Czech Republic | Clay |  Mariano Puerta |
7–5 6–3 |
| 3. | 31 May 2004 | Czech Open, Prostejov, Czech Republic | Clay | Michal Tabara |
7–6 7–5 |
[edit] Singles performance timeline
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2008 Monte Carlo Masters, which concluded on April 27, 2008.
| Tournament | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | Career Win-Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | 3R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 8–6 |
| French Open | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 4R | 9–6 |
| Wimbledon | 3R | 3R | 2R | 2R | QF | 1R | 10-6 | |
| US Open | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | A | 2R | 4–5 | |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss | 2-2 | 7-4 | 2-4 | 6-4 | 7-3 | 4-4 | 0-1 | 28-22 |
| Indian Wells Masters | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 1–6 |
| Miami Masters | A | 4R | 3R | 4R | 4R | 4R | 4R | 13-6 |
| Monte Carlo Masters | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 3–6 |
| Rome Masters | A | 3R | 2R | QF | 3R | 2R | SF | 13–6 |
| Hamburg Masters | A | 1R | A | 2R | F | 1R | A | 6–4 |
| Canada Masters | 3R | 1R | A | 1R | A | SF | 6–4 | |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | 1R | A | 1R | A | 2R | 1–3 | |
| Madrid Masters | A | A | A | QF | A | 1R | 2–2 | |
| Paris Masters | 2R | 1R | F | SF | A | A | 9–4 | |
| Total Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Year End Ranking | 63 | 46 | 33 | 20 | 19 | 29 | 178-135 |
- A = did not participate in the tournament.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- ATP Tour profile for Radek Štěpánek
- ITF profile for Radek Štěpánek
- Davis Cup profile for Radek Štěpánek
- Stepanek Recent Match Results
- Stepanek World Ranking History
