The Czech A-Teams

Although the Czech Republic has given so many great tennis champions in previous years, recently the country failed to produced the same amount of talent. Martina Navratilova, Iva Lendl,  Hana Mandlikova or Jana Novotna are all legends of the game, but after their retirement, their place was hard to fill.

However with Kvitova's stunning triumph at Wimbledon and Berdych's sudden glimpses of magic, the nation finally got something to cheer about. The duo showed their class in the beginning of the season, teaming up to win the mixed-doubles event in Perth. They were imperious in winning the Hopman Cup, disposing of the Frenchmen Marion Bartoli and Richard Gasquet in the final.

The successes kept on coming for the Czech, as Kvitova and co. successfully defended their Fed Cup title. It was Safarova though who clinched the final victory over Serbia, as she defeated both former number 1s, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, to bring in two vital points. 

Inspired by their female counterparts performance, the Czech squad lead by Berdych was determined to end Spain's reign in the Davis Cup and collect the country's first trophy as an independent nation. To help their cause, Corretja's team was deprived of its main superstar, Nadal continuing to be sidelined by the knee injury that forced him to miss the second half of the season. However, with Ferrer in hot form and Almagro as the supporting actor, the Spaniards were not to be dismissed easily.

Day 1 saw the two nations tied at 1-1, with Berdych beating Almagro in a five set thriller, while Ferrer cruised passed Stepanek. The doubles match proved vital in determining the winner. Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez were starting as hot favourites having just claimed the ATP World Tour Championships in London, but old fox Stepanek was yet to say his last word. He and Berdych produced a superb performance to recover from the loss of the opening set to stun the Spaniards 3-6,7-5,7-5,6-3. Stepanek was top notch on Sunday too, scoring the decisive point with a four set victory over Nicolas Almagro.

With Berdych losing in straight sets to Ferrer it was up to Radek to clinch the win and his older compatriot did not waste the opportunity. "I was dreaming about it my whole life and now we're standing here as Davis Cup champions, it's amazing," Stepanek said. "I had a lot of chances in the second set. I was playing very aggressive today; I wanted to be the one who was more active. Even though I lost the third set, I had no doubt about my tactics. I came on the court with a mindset that I had to stay calm, hungry and concentrated. That's what I did tremendously well today."

Having won all the team trophies in 2012, the Czech Republic has established itself as the dominant force in the world.

Radek Stepanek, Tomas Berdych, Ivo Minar and Lukas Rosol respectively, won Czech Republic's first Davis Cup trophy since the country's independence. They beat Spain 3-2 in front of a magnified crowd in Prague.

Earlier this month, Lucie Safarova, Petra Kvitova and doubles specialists, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, won the Fed Cup final against Serbia. Former world number 1s, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, were unable to cope with an inspired Safarova, who brought in two decisive points. 

At the start of the season, Petra Kvitova teamed up with Tomas Berdych to win the Hopman Cup in a final against Marion Bartoli and Richard Gasquet of France.

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The Raging Bull

Djokovic's extraterrestrial 2011 made his 2012 season look pretty modest as the Serb failed to reach the same heights he did the year before. Nadal's impeccable clay-court campaign, Federer's grass magic and Murray's New York fairytale have all overshadowed Novak, but his consistency eventually paid off when he secured the year-end number 1 ranking ahead of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Although Federer's withdrawal from Paris meant his lead was enough to guarantee he'll finish the season atop of the rankings, Novak had plenty to prove in London, especially after his Parisian nightmare. Wearing a Dark Vader mask, the Serb was given a little Halloween trick, crushing out in his opening Bercy tie after a shock loss to inspired American, Sam Querrey. 

Drawn against some fierce opponents, Novak was imperial in his round robin encounters as he battled through some hard fought victories over Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych. Having won his group, the Serb met Juan Martin del Potro for a place in the grand finale. In a rematch of the Olympic bronze medal clash, Djokovic got his revenge, coming from behind to stun the giant Argentinean. He recovered from a set and a break down, to win 4-6,6-3,6-2.

After digging himself out of the rabbit hole in his previous match, the Serb was once put under immense pressure as Federer got off to a flying start in the final. The Swiss built a 3-0 advantage in no time, looking all set to cruise through the opening set. Nole's fighting ability resurfaced once more as he got back the break to level the dispute before winning a tight tie-break to take the lead. Roger was not be to denied easily though, as the Swiss broke early in the second to seize the initiative. He even held two set points while serving at 5-4, but his ferocious opponent refused to give in. He broke back on a string of errors from Federer to pull the final blow. An extremely annoyed Roger found it difficult to focus as he lost his serve for a second time to hand Novak the trophy.

All of his wins this week, especially those against Murray, del Potro and defending champion, Federer, revealed Djokovic's main strength: his 'I won't give up' attitude. Bursting with self-confidence, he often manages to turn things around and win matches in which he plays way below his best. Having won his second ATP World Tour Finals crown, the Serb proved to be a worthy number 1 in men's tennis. 

In a battle between the best tennis players of the moment, Novak Djokovic came from behind to upset Roger Federer 7-6,7-5 to claim his second Masters Cup title.

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