Stepanek achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in 2006 and his doubles ranking reached world No. 4 in 2012. Some of the sport's biggest names, such as Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, were beaten by him in his pomp and he even coached the Serb for a brief period.

When he enjoyed such a big victory, the Olympic bronze medallist would drop onto the court and do the worm. So it might not come as a surprise that in retirement, he's given dancing a go.

This year, the 47-year-old joined the 14th season of StarDance… kdyz hvezdy tanci - the Czech equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing or Dancing with the Stars.

He was partnered with professional dancer Vanda Bartosova Detinska and tried his hand at the cha-cha-cha, which he performed in the first non-elimination showcase round.

He admitted he sought some guidance from his dance partner in order to improve: "Even when I played tennis, I never received excessive praise. I always called it constructive criticism, because I know it helps you improve."

The judges gave the pair a respectable 20 points to open the show's season. But the dramatic tango they performed on night two - the season's first elimination round - unfortunately failed to win over the voting public.

Stepanek and his partner were given another 25 points by the judges and after their first two scores were combined, they sat comfortably in fourth place out of nine couples. But the public vote dragged them down and they became the first duo sent packing.

The tennis hero was disheartened as he left, but said: "I'd like to thank everyone for the opportunity to learn something new. I want to thank Vanda. She was very patient with me." His partner concluded the adventure in a wholesome manner, saying: "You're leaving as a dancer."