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Davis Cup: Serbia, Czechs are loaded for final

Serbia: Host Serbia and the defending champion Czech Republic picked their best teams on Tuesday for the Davis Cup final at Belgrade Arena next week.  Novak Djokovic, 5-0 in the cup this year, will lead

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Serbia: Host Serbia and the defending champion Czech Republic picked their best teams on Tuesday for the Davis Cup final at Belgrade Arena next week.
 


Novak Djokovic, 5-0 in the cup this year, will lead fellow Serbs Janko Tipsarevic and the likely doubles duo of Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac.
   
The Czechs chose Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, who played all five matches when they beat Spain 3-2 in last year's final in Prague.
   
Lukas Rosol and Jan Hajek were also in the Czech squad for the Nov. 15-17 final.
   
The Czechs were in the final for the third time in five years. Serbia was back at the same court where it won its only cup in 2010.
   
Tipsarevic is struggling with a leg injury.
   
"We will know Janko's condition in two, three days, when he finishes treatment," Serbia coach Bogdan Obradovic said.
   
"Janko is doing all he can to recover and be ready for the duel. But, we won't do anything to jeopardize his career."
   
Serbia had hoped Viktor Troicki might be available, but his appeal against an 18-month ban for skipping a blood test in April was reduced to 12 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Tuesday, meaning he can't play until July.
   
Troicki played in the first two wins this year over Belgium and the United States, and won the decisive point in the 2010 final against France.
   
Despite Troicki, Obradovic said he knows he can count on Djokovic, who hasn't lost a cup match since the 2011 semifinals.
   
"Novak is a great professional, he is ready," Obradovic said. "Davis Cup is one of his priorities, so I have no doubt that he will be ready for the Czechs."
   
En route to last year's Davis Cup victory, the Czechs beat Serbia 4-1 in the quarterfinals in Prague.