Tipsarevic sparkles for Serbia to book Davis Cup final showdown with France

(AP)

Janko Tipsarevic was Serbia's hero after he beat Radek Stepanek in the decisive rubber to propel his country to their first Davis Cup final with a nerve-jangling 3-2 win over the Czech Republic.

The often inconsistent Tipsarevic capped an outstanding individual weekend, having also beaten Tomas Berdych on Friday, by sweeping aside Stepanek 6-0, 7-6, 6-4 to power the Serbs into a home showdown against the nine-times champions France.

Earlier yesterday, Novak Djokovic had pulled Serbia level at 2-2 after he beat Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in three hours 14 minutes in front of 18,000 passionate home fans in the Belgrade Arena.

It was Tipsarevic who sent the capacity crowd into raptures with a flawless performance which saw him take the opening set in just 23 minutes, allowing Stepanek to win only seven points.

"This was a fairy-tale end to the tie, I have to thank the crowd for their fantastic support – they brought us back from the dead," Tipsarevic said. "I am glad I saved my best tennis for the national team in a match of this magnitude."