Tomas Berdych used his powerful forehand to clinch the Davis Cup quarterfinal series for the Czech Republic against Serbia and send his team to its third semifinal in the last four years.
Berdych edged out Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7) in a matchup of two top-10 players to give the Czechs an insurmountable 3-1 lead and wrap up the best-of-the five series on an indoor red clay court at O2 Arena.
Lukas Rosol's ensuing victory over Viktor Troicki made the final score 4-1.
The seventh-ranked Berdych saved five set points in the third before sealing the victory when Tipsarovic netted a backhand on his second match point.
The Czechs will face either Argentina or Croatia in September.
''I'm really grateful for the victory,'' said Berdych, who improved to 19-11 in Davis Cup singles in avenging a 3-2 loss to Serbia in the 2010 semifinals. He's 3-4 against Tipsarevic.
Tipsarevic, who is at his highest ranking of No. 8, wasted chances to serve out the first two sets. Berdych's attacking forehand put him under pressure throughout and fired 12 aces.
''It's a tennis of today,'' Berdych said. ''One or two points can turn decisive.''
Tipsarovic had his right big toe treated but his movements appeared limited in the following games. He said his ''whole nail was completely out. It was painful (but) I'm not blaming my loss on the nail.''
''Tomas was better than me today in important moments at the end of every set,'' he added. ''He played brave, he went for his shots and in the end that paid off.''
Berdych and Tipsarevic shook hands to end what has been a fractious series.
On Friday, Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic was accused of flipping the middle finger and swearing at Tipsarevic after the Serb won their five-hour, five-set singles match to level the quarterfinal at 1-1.
On Saturday, Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia refused to shake Stepanek's hand after he and Nenad Zimonjic lost the doubles 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Tipsarevic said Sunday he was not ready to put the problem behind him.
''I would probably never speak to (Stepanek) again,'' he said.
The Czechs played their recent home Davis Cup ties on indoor hard courts but opted this time for a slow clay court.
Tipsarevic complained about the court, saying its quality ''was ridiculously low.''
''This is probably one of the worst clay courts I ever played professional tennis on,'' he said. ''There was a lot of bad bounces. Luckily, nobody twisted an ankle and nobody was injured.''
Berdych took the first set at his second opportunuity with a service winner.
The Czech didn't waste time in the second, breaking in the second game. But Tipsarevic immediately broke back before again failing to serve the set out after Berdych had dropped a serve on a double fault.
Tipsarevic saved two set points trailing 6-5 and wasted a set point in the tiebreaker before Berdych converted his third chance.
