LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Radek Stepanek: James Blake
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Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic does "the worm" on the court after defeating James Blake in the finals of the Countrywide Classic tennis tournament, Sunday, July 22, 2007, in Los Angeles. Stepanek won 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-2.
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Coming into the championship match, Stepanek had played just five sets in the tournament. Blake had played 10. Stepanek’s first round opponent, Alex Bogdanovic, retired after losing the first set and Nicolas Kiefer, whom he was scheduled to play on Saturday night in the semifinal, withdrew before the start of the match due to a sudden knee injury.
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Martina Hingis says that Czech tennis player Stepanek Radek proposed to her in Prague last month. The couple are seen here arriving for the Swiss premiere of the James Bond movie 'Casino Royale' in Zurich on Nov. 16.
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Stepanek, on the other hand, has found some stunning form after recovering from the neck injury that kept him off the tour for an extended period. The 28-year-old Czech defeated James Blake to win his second career title in Los Angeles last month and notched two semi-finals in recent events, adding Gstaad to his last-four Montreal showing.
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Leading 2-1 Stepanek took control by breaking Blake in the fourth game of the deciding set. After a double-fault, Stepanek seized on Blake's second serve and blasted a backhand winner down the line to lead 3-1.
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No doubt the thought seeped into Blake’s mind because he hit a double fault in the next game to give Stepanek a break point then lost his serve to go down 1-3. Serving to stay in the match at 2-5, Blake hit an error then a forehand that ticked the net but refused to go over and Stepanek had two match points. Stepanek hit a passing shot by Blake and the match was over. Stepanek had won only the second title in his career, 7-6(7), 5-7, 6-2.
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