BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych both did what was expected of them to leave the Davis Cup final between Serbia and defending champion Czech Republic level at 1-1 after the opening day.
Djokovic overcame some early nerves to beat Radek Stepanek 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 in the first singles match and Berdych then swept past rookie Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 on the indoor hard court at Belgrade Arena.
With their formidable 13-1 record in Davis Cup doubles, Berdych and Stepanek have a chance to give the Czechs the lead in the best-of-five series Saturday. It was still unclear whether Djokovic would play doubles or rest for Sunday's reverse singles.
Djokovic earned his 23rd consecutive victory since losing to Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open final in September but struggled a bit in the first set. He broke Stepanek to go up 4-2 but had to save two break points in the next game and failed to serve out the set at 5-3, when he committed a series of errors. However, he broke again in the 12th game to take the lead.
"I was a bit nervous in the first set," Djokovic said. "It was very important to win that one against high-quality player like Radek."