BELGRADE: The Czech Republic won their second successive Davis Cup title after Radek Stepanek beat Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 to give them a 3-2 victory against the 2010 champions Serbia on Sunday.

Serbia’s world No. 2 Novak Djokovic levelled the tie earlier in the day with a straight-sets win over Tomas Berdych, but the passionate home fans were silenced by a cool performance from Stepanek who gave the 117th-ranked Lajovic no chance in the decisive rubber.

“The match was the same (as last year’s final), under the biggest possible pressure that can be,” Stepanek said in a courtside interview.

“But I knew that I would want to use the experience from last year’s final against him. Besides the first game, I controlled the match. I think I played in my best form ever this weekend.

“Of course it is more difficult to defend the title, but I think we used the experience from last year and we earned it.”

Lajovic had 17,000 noisy Serbian fans on their feet when he broke Stepanek in the opening game but it turned out to be the high point of the match for the 23-year-old, as his more experienced opponent highlighted the gulf in class between the two players.

Stepanek combined his baseline and volleying skills to good effect and was mobbed by his team mates when he sealed victory after one hour and 52 minutes.

McEnroe in Japan for charity match

In Tokyo, seven-time grand slam singles champion John McEnroe gave Japan’s top player a run for his money on Sunday in a charity match for the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Playing in Japan for the first time since 1997, the 54-year-old McEnroe took on Kei Nishikori, the 23-year-old Japanese star who rose to No. 11 in the world rankings this year.

Nishikori beat McEnroe 1-6, 6-4 and 10-7 in a tiebreak but the score hardly mattered as Sunday’s match was about raising money for the Tohoku Tennis Association to help rebuild and rejuvenate tennis in the region devastated by the March 11, 2011 disaster.

“Considering I just got in a few days ago, my body was moving pretty well,” McEnroe said. “I was able to make some good shots but he took some mercy on me.”

In addition to his competitive spirit, McEnroe showed flashes of his famous wit. “Is this a tennis match or a daycare center, what the heck is going on here?” he shouted to a sold-out crowd of 10,000 when a crying baby interrupted a serve.

With the score tied 6-6 in the tiebreak, McEnroe gave an assessment of his opponent’s condition — “looks like he’s runnin’ out of gas” — and made a few of his trademark rants over close calls and the occasional thrown racket.

McEnroe said he was more than happy to visit Japan and help out the people on the country’s northeastern coast.

“It’s good to try to help people through a difficult time,” McEnroe said. “Unfortunately, disasters like this seem to be happening more and more these days.”