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 Photographer: Paul Zimmer
Date: 26 Nov 2009 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer
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| 26 Nov 2009 - Leo Schlink | |
| Double Grand Slam champ can't get a game! |
Lukas Dlouhy is revered among his peers as a doubles player of the highest calibre. In tandem with India’s veteran Leander Paes, Dlouhy has this season pocketed two Grand Slam titles – the US Open and Roland Garros.
If those two triumphs are not sufficiently impressive, consider this: Dlouhy and Paes have managed to reach the semi-finals, or better, of all 15 tournaments they have contested in 2009. It is some record.
But despite that Dlouhy, 26, is no certainty to play doubles when Czech Republic faces Spain in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final in Barcelona.
Since top-line athletes are innately competitive, Dlouhy's frustration ought to be palpable. It is not. In fact, Dlouhy concurs with captain Jaroslav Navratil's decision to use singles spearheads Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych in doubles.
Not, however, that he wouldn’t just about give anything to play, if required. “Well, if you have a team, with such good guys like Radek and Tomas, it’s tough to get in because they won all the matches that they played in Davis Cup. So it’s very difficult for the captain to change the nomination for all of us,” Dlouhy said.
"I fully agree with him, because if you have a team that never lost, what can you do? I’m still waiting for the chance. If he calls me in, I try to fight as much as I can and be the best. Of course, it’s disappointing that I'm not playing in this winning streak in the Davis Cup, but I'm part of the team. If the team does well, I'm happy.”
Dlouhy last played doubles for his nation in 2007. Berdych and Stepanek have carried all before them this year, winning all three doubles rubbers in tense, pivotal circumstances.
Berdych remains unbeaten in Davis Cup by BNP Paribas doubles play, boasting an impeccable 8-0 tally. Stepanek has been almost as good, with a 7-1 record in the team game.
If Dlouhy is pressed into action on the clay of Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi against Spain's finest, it would complete an improbably bountiful year for the Monte Carlo-based right-hander.
“If you’d have told me before the season that Leander and I would win two Grand Slams, and I’d get to the Davis Cup Final, it would be dream,” he said. “So I’ll do my best to get ready for the next week on the clay court in Barcelona.”
Victory in 1980 provides inspiration
The Czechs’ 1980 triumph, as Czechoslovakia, is a driving force for Dlouhy, who hopes to follow in the most famous male footsteps in his nation’s tennis history. And little wonder, too, given the identity of the four illustrious figures involved in delivering the country's only Davis Cup title – Ivan Lendl, Jan Kodes, Tomas Smid and Pavel Slozil.
“Yeah, it feels very good," Dlouhy added. “All the [2009] team are pretty excited to make a new one [victory] after 30 years, so we’ll do our best."
Confronting an awesome Spanish team on home soil – red clay, to be specific – is daunting enough without taking into account just how formidable the hosts are in these circumstances.
An Australian team containing Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt – both Grand Slam singles champions and holders of the world No. 1 ranking – was beaten in Barcelona in the 2000 Cup decider. The United States suffered a similar fate four years later in Seville and last year a quality Argentine unit was eclipsed on its own court.
Dlouhy, however, is undeterred. “Before every match, it’s 50-50,” he said. “So this is the Final of the Davis Cup. It doesn't matter about rankings, about players. It all depends on Friday, Saturday, Sunday – those three days.
"Everybody who I know is going to be there. So I hope the crowd is going to be nice and the people will enjoy it."
And, perhaps, come to appreciate the skill and class of a world-class doubles practitioner – if he finally gets the chance to play.
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