GENEVA -- Tomas Berdych needed only around three hours to beat Stanislas Wawrinka this time, and lift the Czech Republic to a 3-1 victory over Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday.
Back on court after both played in an epic 7 hours, 1 minute doubles match on Saturday, Czech No. 1 Berdych beat Swiss team leader Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the first of the reverse singles rubbers.
Sunday's match took three hours, 15 minutes -- lasting less than half the time of the longest match in Davis Cup history.
The defending champion Czechs earned a home quarterfinal against Kazakhstan in April.
Berdych was more clinical Sunday, after he and partner Lukas Rosol had needed 13 match points to finish a 24-22 fifth set against Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli.
The sixth-ranked Czech clinched on his first chance when Wawrinka's cross-court shot clipped the net cord and looped wide.
Berdych reeled off three straight points to win the tiebreaker as 17th-ranked Wawrinka seemed poised to force more fifth-set drama.
Wawrinka extended his run of hard-luck losses in 2013, which began against Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic. The Swiss lost that fourth-round clash 12-10 in the fifth after 5 hours, 2 minutes.
