DAVIS CUP QULIFIERS 2ND ROUND: CZECHIA vs USA

September 13, 2025

Tomas Berdych

Tomas Machac

Jakub Mensik

Team Czechia

Press Conference

J. MENSIK/F. Tiafoe

6-1, 6-4

Team Czechia - 3

Team USA - 2

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, congratulations.

Captain, why don't we start with you. Just your thoughts on the week and the big win tonight.

CAPTAIN TOMAS BERDYCH: Thoughts... Well, I think they are just superlatives that I can use for this evening, for the two guys that how they performed today, how they delivered the two great results.

I mean, we could have been done much faster, since we had already the set point in the first set in the doubles, and then unfortunately was not able to finish it up. So, I mean, the day could be totally different, but overall, that's the most important final result that I was hoping for and we managed to make it.

So I'm extremely happy with the performance of my team, and that's what we came for here. So the mission is succeed.

THE MODERATOR: Tomas, Jakub, can you walk us through that doubles match, obviously a tough, long match, and Jakub, how you were able to recover for singles.

JAKUB MENSIK: Yeah, like Tomas said, it was tough two days, and obviously like it started with the doubles that in the first set when we had the momentum in the tiebreak, you know, and then unfortunately it went, you know, the other way for the opponents.

Yeah, then as longer as we played, you know, I think that me and Tomas, we were showing such a better and better performance, so at the end, you know, we were just in the zone. But unfortunately, the opponents, the quality of the game, you know, and of the doubles, it's just incredible. I mean, they are great champions.

Yeah, obviously it was very tough, very tough to end it in this way when we left everything out there. And, yeah, especially for me, to recover when actually, you know, Jiri did such a great job yesterday and today when he showed one of his best tennis, and yeah, me, after that, you know, that I spend already three hours today on the court. Slept just six hours during the night.

Yeah, with the feeling that actually those two points that we lost, you know, I was, you know, participating in both of them, so I'm just happy, you know, that I came there. I was, you know, physically feeling -- obviously, you know, I felt already better, but I just was proud of the country, and I left everything out there, and I'm super happy that I bring the last deciding point.

THE MODERATOR: Just your thoughts on the doubles match, Tomas?

TOMAS MACHAC: Yeah, it was a great match. I would say that in the first set I wasn't returning well. Anyway, had set point in tiebreaker, and showing that we were playing great. Afterwards I think we were in the zone, as Jakub said. Second set was great and first set also.

But, yeah, it was very close. Few points and I think we could win. I was very happy that Jiri won and Jakub was playing great after three hours of doubles. It was very difficult for him, and he handled it pretty well. Super performance of the team today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Captain Tomas, what was the transition like, you being a former player and becoming a captain? What type of advice did you give your team?

CAPTAIN TOMAS BERDYCH: Yeah, I mean, the transition, I think it already happen, and I'm lucky that it was bit kind of slowly coming, you know, with the first tie we played at home. Everything was much smoother. That was my first match in Davis Cup as a captain.

So there, I think everything went smooth, you know. Everything settled down pretty well. And coming here to States, I think we were quite confident, you know, feeling the strength of my team. That also help a lot.

You know, what I gave to my team, no, I mean, it's, like, really it's not about me, it's not about him, not about him. It's about everyone. There is no one bigger than the team. That's what's the biggest strength of the Czech Davis Cup team.

So I hope we will be able to stick with that as long as possible, and that they were the best results possible. So, you know, one day it's maybe about, like, ten tips to each guy or one day it's maybe only one. So every day is different. That's what is tennis, you know. Tennis is that kind of sport, and you have to take this approach to it. I hope I'm trying my best, and yeah, the guys are able to deliver the results. That's the perfect combination.

Q. How sweet is it to win here in the United States with the crowd rooting so loud for the opponent?

CAPTAIN TOMAS BERDYCH: Well, look, I mean, I played Davis Cup for many years, and I have quite a big experience there. Honestly, coming to the States, it was my first time, and I was quite surprised, to be honest, what was waiting us here, and the way the team was, you know, preparing the tie, how they were treating us.

I think this is definitely the best, you know, the best way how to show them how we prepared, how we took the facility and everything that was waiting us here. That's the best possible way what we can do, you know. So we won. We beat the very strong U.S. team on the home soil, which never happened for our team in the past.

So I think this is definitely the best, you know, what we can do here in this week, ,and whatever was around, it was around. We deal with that much better. We didn't feel that heat and that humid, as been said before. So I hope the guys were fine with that.

That's it. So we are leaving States as winners, and we are the team that are going to Bologna.

Q. What are you guys taking forward from this to head to Bologna?

CAPTAIN TOMAS BERDYCH: Well, what are we taking? We definitely taking the win, which is the most important thing, and with that win, we are bringing a lot of confidence, which is also extremely important towards going to Bologna.

What else? The Davis Cup is very specific event in that sense, so after couple of months, we gonna face another different format of each match that we gonna play, which is also very unique and something which is new. I mean, the guys know it. For me, it will be the first time.

But anyway, it's very important. Beating such a strong team as the American team is, especially on their home soil, it's something what gives us a lot of self-belief that in Bologna we can definitely beat anyone, we have that team for.

If the guys stay healthy, which I wish the most for, then I think, as I was saying the first day, that we are not the favorite, then I think that our chances in Bologna is all of a sudden getting higher and higher.

JAKUB MENSIK: Like Tomas said, basically everything basically from the players' perspective, obviously for me it's a great experience. You know, we already qualified with the team, you know, before. So it's great opportunity again.

Of course right now it's good situation, you know, for us. Like Tomas said, we are bringing a lot of confidence, and yeah, we can take that opportunity, like, you know, from the two years ago and when we played, you know, to bring it to our side.

So of course it's an advantage for us, and yeah, it's great. We have the opportunity with this team, which is great perspective, not just for this year but for the future, to, if not this year, you know, to bring big things into the Davis Cup.

Q. This question initially is for Captain Berdych, but I'm hoping you guys will speak to it too. We spoke to Jiri Lehecka, and he said one of your greatest strengths as a captain is that you've had a great career as a player, won as a player, lost as a player, like every great player, and had great success in Davis Cup and you know what to say, what not to say, because you have been there before. Do you agree with Jiri, that's one of your greatest strengths as a captain? I want to ask Tomas and Jakub if they agree.

CAPTAIN TOMAS BERDYCH: Yeah, well, first of all, thanks for the compliment. On the other hand, as I said at the beginning, for me it's a huge challenge to come to this team, but with the team that is with a huge potential, so I'm happy to be onboard. As I'm dedicated to something, I'm just trying to do my best no matter what I am doing.

As I was a player, I was trying my best, trying everything. Now as a captain, I'm trying to do the same, trying to make it the best possible for the guys that they feel great and they want to come here, want to play, want to play for the country.

Then of course to the singles matches, if this is the case, if they feel like that, I'm happy with that. I will continue. If that's the good matchup, then I think it's pretty good, because the results are showing it. So let's go one by one.

JAKUB MENSIK: Yeah, well, you know, as a player perspective, right now again, obviously Tomas taking the captain spot, it's crazy for me, because I can only imagine right now to, you know, that maybe in few years, you know, I'll be sitting there on the bench to go over and over again just basically of course, like he said, you know, he been already there on that court, so seeing it from the bench perspective, for me as a tennis player, it's where I cannot do basically anything, it's very tough.

So it's, like, of course, you know, it's good that, you know, he's with us and basically, you know, that he is helping us a lot, you know, in this kind of way, that like I said, you know, he was there on the court, he knows how everything is going. So he's just leaving us the space, because he knows how everything is going, which is very important for us to feel great on the court and, you know, to have someone that is pushing us forward and not just on the court but off the court, as well.

It's good for us, and, you know, even for the future, like I said, it's good to have him. And we're, like, proud.

TOMAS MACHAC: Yeah, it's great to have Tomas, because he had such a great career, and he will know what to do. Just ask, because he has a great answer because of his experience. It's great to have him on the bench.

Q. Captain Berdych, you made a fascinating strategic decision to play Jakub Mensik in doubles, knowing there could be that fifth rubber. Can you talk about all the factors that went into making that decision, ultimately whether or not you were concerned whether he would have enough gas in the tank? Which obviously he did.

CAPTAIN TOMAS BERDYCH: Yeah, well, I don't know if I want to say about all the aspects that I was thinking and that was in my mind, because I think that's also something what it's also part of the team, and I think that's also one of the rules that when I was a player, I was a little bit for, you know, to respect that, that we not gonna, you know, like, publish and say everything what is happening in the team. Because anyway, we are, as a team, but then again, the individuals will go on court and they will play for the team. So that's a bit different. So that's why I think it should stay also sometimes inside the team.

The decisions, as I said yesterday, the guys, last time they beat them, so that was definitely one of the decisions. The other one was that I want to put the two singles guys in the doubles, because I thought that that's a good matchup against the two guys that they are very good doubles player.

Then, as you mentioned, the other option was maybe to put Jiri who was supposed to play the first, so that was nearly impossible. So basically, this is the option that I made.