Lajovic, who has a 5-12 record on the ATP tour and had never played in the Davis Cup before this weekend, replaced Janko Tipsarevic, who missed the final with a heel injury.
He also lost his first singles against Berdych on Friday his first career best-of-five-sets match and found himself thrust into by far the biggest match of his life against Stepanek. The 23-year-old Serb started well, however, breaking Stepanek in the opening game of the match. But the 34-year-old Czech responded swiftly with two consecutive breaks to take a 5-2 lead.
Stepanek controlled the match from then on, and broke Lajovic for 3-1 in the final set, and then added another before serving out the match.
Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said his team's chances of winning the title were crippled by Tipsarevic's injury and a 12-month doping ban against Viktor Troicki, who helped Serbia win its only title.
"We couldn't find the real replacement for the two," Bogdanovic said. "We'll try the next year."
The Czechs got the crucial point in Saturday's doubles to go up 2-1. Second-ranked Novak Djokovic then kept alive Serbia's hopes by beating Berdych 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-2 earlier Sunday to improve his career record against the Czech to 15-2.
"We both entered this match with a lot of tension," Djokovic said. "I managed to break his resistance in the second set."
Berdych was leading 5-4 in the second-set tiebreaker when he sent wide an easy backhand volley at the net. Then he lost a point on his serve, and Djokovic took his first chance to serve out the set.
Djokovic, who improved his winning streak to 24 matches since losing the U.S. Open final against Rafael Nadal in September, converted his first match point with an ace, bringing cheers from the 17,000-strong boisterous Serbian crowd at the arena.
"It's really hard to find right and correct words to explain at what level he's playing and how strong Novak is," Berdych said. "He is now the best player when he's playing indoors, and that's what he proved today."
- AP
