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Prague - Tomas Berdych will skip the Czech Republic's Davis Cup first-round tie against Australia on 6 - 8 March to focus on his individual career, the Czech team's manager says.
Manager Miroslav Cernosek said on Wednesday: "Tomas will skip the first round but he will play the quarter-finals or the relegation tie.
"He has swapped his coaching team to boost his individual career and his hopes are pretty high."
Berdych, the 29-year-old world number seven, hired Andy Murray's former coach Dani Vallverdu last December in a bid to lift his first Grand Slam trophy.
Berdych, who lost to David Ferrer in the Qatar Open final on Sunday, has only missed three Davis Cup ties since he joined the Czech team in 2003.
The Czechs, who won the trophy in 2012 and 2013, will rely on 30th-ranked Lukas Rosol and 73rd-ranked Radek Stepanek for the first-round tie in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava.
