Serbian No2 Janko Tipsarevic accused Radek Stepanek of giving him the middle finger instead of the customary handshake at the net following their stormy five-hour ten-minute Davis Cup singles rubber Friday night in Prague.

Tipsarevic saved three match points en route to his 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 win over the Czech veteran but was left bemused following their brief encounter at the net.

The world No8, who is leading the Serbian squad in the absence of Novak Djokovic, was seen confronting Stepanek after the match before being ushered away by Serb captain Bogdan Obradovic.

He later explained the reason behind him approaching the Czech.

“I would like all of you to know what kind of a person is Radek Stepanek,” Tipsarevic told reporters in Prague.

“After five hours and ten minutes, instead of shaking my hand he gave me the middle finger, and told me that I am a stinking… something bad you know. It’s a swear word.”

Tipsarevic said he was particularly upset because he was exceptionally understanding on court throughout the match, behaving respectfully towards Stepanek and the Czech home crowd.

“I have this thing that I always believed the best in people. And even though people are telling that he can be not so nice on the court, I never believed it even though I played him three times.

“As you can see I think my behaviour on the court was I think fair enough. When he fell I crossed the net to see if he needs help, I was always letting him go past the net first, I even two times admitted the ball which was questionable.

“I can understand that somebody like him can be angry after losing a match, especially after having so many chances. But doing this – I would never invent something like this. Our photographer has proof, he has the picture where I’m showing my right hand like this (gestures a handshake) and he is showing his right hand like this (gestures a middle finger).

“Unbelievable. I never ever ever thought that I would experience this. Especially because of my behaviour on court. I’m not saying I’m a golden boy, and I’m the Stefan Edberg of men’s tennis, but at least I know what is right and what is not right.

“There’s just only one word for this, it’s pathetic. Nothing else.”

Tipsarevic later tweeted a close-up photo of the pseudo-handshake which indeed did indicate Stepanek’s ill-advised behaviour. “It really is a shame that a great tennis nation like CZE is represented by someone like him,” the Serb told his Twitter followers.

Stepanek denied the incident saying: “We normally shook hands.”

 

 

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