Honours were even on day one of the Davis Cup final between Serbia and holders Czech Republic as two one-sided singles matches were played out in Belgrade.
Novak Djokovic got Serbia off to a flying start with a straight-sets win, before Tomas Berdych made it 1-1 heading into the doubles today.
Fresh from his ATP Finals win over Rafael Nadal in London, Australian Open champion Djokovic ploughed through Radek Stepanek 7-5 6-1 6-4 to give his nation the early advantage in the best-of-five tie.
It was harsh on Stepanek who was a sitting duck for Djokovic, who is never more fired up than wearing the colours of Serbia.
So sure were observers that Djokovic would win that it was suggested Stepanek should have been rested ahead of today’s crucial doubles rubber, but the 34-year-old veteran turned out nonetheless.
He was duly beaten by the world no.2 who again rose to the challenge of representing his nation.
The first point of the tie was an ace from his racquet and the noise in support of him was so vociferous that the umpire had to request silence as Stepanek was put off his serve.
He lost that serve in the sixth game as he went wide with a drop shot before spurning two break-back points in the next.
Djokovic’s serve was taken, though, as he also went awry with a short-range slice, but rather than let Stepanek take full advantage, he shot him down with a cutting backhand to break again and take the set 7-5.
The second set would prove much easier fare for Djokovic who earned three break points in the fourth game and cashed them in when he forced his opponent wide, before another backhand got him out to a 5-1 lead which soon became 6-1.
It was at this point that it really became apparent that Stepanek’s legs could have been sacrificed in favour of Lukas Rosol, but to his credit he found some resolve in the third before losing his serve in the ninth game when a stunning low backhand from Djokovic put him in an impossible position on break point.
The match was soon put to bed in two hours and nine minutes and Djokovic had a 23rd win in a row.
There is considerable work to do, though, especially after Berdych swept past Dusan Lajovic 6-3 6-4 6-3.
Lajovic, in the Serbian side after Janko Tipsarevic pulled out injured, was never likely to live with the big-serving Berdych and so it proved.
Berdych broke in the eighth game of the opening set as he crunched a backhand winner, before setting up the second set by taking the fifth game against the feed with a winning forehand.
The final set was over even quicker as he stole serve in the opening game with a deft drop shot and then wrapped things up by breaking for a fourth time in total.