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Radek Stepanek: Farewell to a Tennis Legend
67 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
Radek Stepanek turned pro in 1996 and struggled for five years as a doubles journeyman until November 2001 when he approached Petr Korda asking how he could improve his game. Korda responded, “I will help you but you will listen to everything and I guarantee to you that you will be ranked in the top 70.”
Stepanek listened to Korda’s advice and inspiration. He began 2002 ranked 547 and finished at 63. That was just the beginning. Stepanek would achieve a career-high singles ranking as world No. 8 (in July 2006) and best doubles ranking of world No. 4.
Stepanek’s biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 event finals and the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2006, and winning the deciding match two years in a row for Czech Republic’s Davis Cup winning team in 2012 and again in 2013. Stepanek won a total of 384 career singles matches.
In doubles, Stepanek also shined, winning his first Grand Slam title at the 2012 Australian Open, along with partner Leander Paes, defeating the Bryan Brothers in the final. Paes and Step, a dynamic duo together, also won the men’s doubles title at the 2013 US Open, defeating Bruno Soares and Alexander Peya in the final. Paes, a legendary doubles champion, said last year his all time favorite partner was Stepanek. Last year in Rio, Stepenak added a bronze medal in mixed doubles (with Hradecka) to his trophy collection.
I have many vivid memories of covering Stepanek. We did a Biofile in the late 90s at the US Open locker room. He was wearing camouflage pants and said his mom was a librarian. He almost beat Novak Djokovic at the US Open in 2007, forcing the Serbian to a fifth set tiebreaker on Armstrong Stadium. Step beat world no. 1 Gustavo Kuerten at the Australian Open. Always a character on the court, he would express himself in many ways, busting dance moves, or telling Paes “I love you” to his face on the changeover chair after breaking the Bryan Brothers at Miami Open in 2012. Paes responded by grabbing and kissing Step’s forehead.
Last year on December 1, a Sunday morning I saw Stepanek practicing at IMG Academy with Christian Harrison and Pat Harrison feeding balls to each. Step and Harrison would hit alternating inside out and inside in forehands, about ten in a row. Why this stands out was that Stepanek was grunting and playing with 100% intensity, and it was only Dec. 1, still a month away from the start of the 2017 season. This illustrated what a hard worker and how serious Stepanek was.
There’s more. I tried to do a quick interview with Step after the on court workout but he said he couldn’t because he was on the way to indoor fitness training.
Talk about hard work. Not many, if any, players worked harder than Stepanek who at a few weeks short of 38 is still in top physical shape. He said today that his back issue is still a problem and it’s time to stop playing. The spirit is still there to play but the body won’t cooperate.
Still, it was a glorious career achieved by Stepanek. Five singles titles, two major doubles titles, two Davis Cups and over $11 million in prize money. Not bad for a struggling doubles specialist who was smart enough to request and listen to the wisdom of Petr Korda.
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« Previous 1 2Chazz · November 16, 2017 at 5:11 pm
Sock…it’s incredible how he has turned the corner in the past month. Who would have thought he would be anywhere near the last 4 in the ATP Finals? His backhand return is not a weakness, it’s an asset! That was for Andrew, I’m sure he would be stunned at where Sock’s backhand is now.
Chazz · November 16, 2017 at 5:16 pm
Zverev with about the coldest handshake you’ll see. I guess both being friends with Kyrgios doesn’t mean they are friends with each other.
Joe Blow · November 16, 2017 at 5:30 pm
Isaiah Thomas was a 1000 times better than Steve Kerr. Thomas can’t get a coaching job, Kerr is winning championships.
Uncle Toni has no ATP titles. Djokovic’s old coach didn’t have much of a career. If some player respected Spadea, and was willing to sign up, go for it..
Couldn’t recognize Wim Fressette in a lineup, Cligsters and Azarenka look good on his resume, so he’ll keep getting jobs.
Spadea’s waiting for the call to coach Dan’s kid
Hartt · November 16, 2017 at 5:30 pm
Chazz, to answer your question about Sock, Scoop would not be surprised, he has been a big Sock supporter for some time now.
Sock and Zverev have said they are friends, but Sascha must be beyond frustrated at how poorly he played in the decider.
Scoop Malinowski · November 16, 2017 at 6:14 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Research what Isiah Thomas did with the Knicks. Unprofessional embarrassment.
Scoop Malinowski · November 16, 2017 at 6:17 pm
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Chazz, Andrew was always overly negative about Sock's backhand. It was NEVER as bad as he made it out to be. For some reason, people have a tendency to be unfairly cynical about certain player strokes. The Sock backhand has always ranged from good to okay to sometimes very good. A couple of bad misses here and there does not speak the whole story.
Moxie · November 16, 2017 at 6:22 pm
TC speculating on Radek Stepanek for the day-to-day coach for Djokovic. What do you think the chances of that are, Scoop?
Joe Blow · November 16, 2017 at 6:51 pm
Spadea losing 20 matches in a row and being out of shape 98% of his career is an embarrassment too
catherine · November 17, 2017 at 2:35 am
A part of this thread was about Kerber for a split second and soon enough ended up being about Spadea 🙂
I had to laugh.
Joe – being unable to recognise Fisette in a lineup is probably a good thing, for a coach.
Grigor’s love life – last I heard he was with Lewis Hamilton’s ex but that was something like ten minutes ago.
catherine · November 17, 2017 at 2:48 am
Zverev – disappointing match. I can see a summons for a chat with Boris Becker coming up.
catherine · November 17, 2017 at 2:57 am
For those who feel like being free with drug allegations any time – Nadal has won his defamation suit with the French minister who accused him of doping a while ago. The damages money goes to charity.
Front242 · November 17, 2017 at 3:15 am
Moxie said:
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Very interesting as they've often had some cracking matches against each other and there's a lot of mutual respect. Stepanek was still playing at a very high level prior to his back injury and was making a mockery of Murray in the first round of RG 2016, a match I wish he'd won. To be that good still against top players at his very advanced age for a tennis player, shows he hopefully has a lot to offer as a coach.
mrzz · November 17, 2017 at 4:44 am
Actually I remember Muster's attempt to a comeback. He played a lot, I guess around 15 matches, most on challengers and I guess two ATP 250´s (all wildcards obviously). He won a few sets but just one match. He was 43 and was really trying to achieve something.
Scoop Malinowski · November 17, 2017 at 7:16 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Moxie, Stepanek connecting with Djokovic is probably going to happen would be my guess. Friendly terms, mutual respect, both live in Monte Carlo. Stepanek seems like the type who is a tennis lifer and is happy to be involved in the sport in any way possible. Perfect choice by Djokovic.
Scoop Malinowski · November 17, 2017 at 7:17 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Joe; I never saw Spadea exhausted or tired or retiring from any matches. Maybe he was no Lendl or Navratilova in terms of fitness but he was definitely not unfit. Not sure where you get this idea.
Scoop Malinowski · November 17, 2017 at 7:22 am
Scoop Malinowski writes:
Yes mrzz, Muster was not playing those ATP matches in his 40s for fun or laughs, he was as always deathly serious. I saw the one with Haider Maurer and he was surprisingly competitive but he just didn't have enough to win consistently. It was interesting to see. Wish McEnroe would have tried his contemplated comeback in singles in his 40s inspired by George Foreman's boxing success but I guess he knew that he couldn't do it and succeed though he did have the big doubles title win in San Jose with Bjorkman over Jim Thomas and Paul Goldstein in his 40s.
dan markowitz · November 17, 2017 at 1:53 pm
I was surprised in 2004 when Spadea starting the year was no 19 in the world how little he really did for an elite pro athlete in terms of fitness. I mean sometimes I went to the gym with him and he’d just ride the stationary bike. When he was off tour during that year, he did go into more intense training. I once saw him at Gold’s Gym in Boca working out on an incline treadmill and sprinting as hard as he could in 40 second intervals. That looked brutal. But I was of the mind that pro tennis players spent a lot more time working on their fitness and I think most did more to much more than Vince. Was he out of shape? No because played tennis constantly when he wasn’t injured and he watched carefully what he ate and with me, I never saw him imbibe anything stronger than coffee.
Don’t take too much out of what Sock has done in Paris and London. He’s had a nice two weeks, but does reverse him losing to Jordan Thompson in DCup and US Open? Offer at Wimbledon? Not a chance. Let’s see what he does come January in Australia. This is like an exhibition now. From Laver Cup, we know Sock does well in exbos.