Czechs Have Just the Role for Dosedel

Slava Dosedel feels like a natural man.

He refuses to eat meat, becoming a vegetarian eight years ago.

“To me, meat is like dead animal,” he said. “I cannot eat meat. I like animals a lot.”

So when movie producer Pavel Linhart watched Dosedel in a television interview, he didn’t see a jet-setting professional tennis player who has earned more than $2 million in his career. Instead, he spotted a self-professed man of nature who likes wandering through the forest, picking up mushrooms and relaxing by the water.

In short, perfect for the filmmaker. Here was the living, breathing modern version of Vincenz Priessnitz, a 19th-century German doctor who was one of the founders of hydrotherapy.

It was Linhart’s Eureka moment; he had been searching for someone to portray Priessnitz in his film “Life Water.”

So, as it turns out, the 29-year-old vegetarian from Prerov is the one possessing the most screen time in this weekend’s Davis Cup quarterfinal between the United States and the Czech Republic at the Great Western Forum. (OK, there was captain John McEnroe’s star turn in that 1979 epic, “Players.”)

Last year, Dosedel took out time from his tennis schedule to work on the film, which was released in conjunction with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Priessnitz. “I practiced [the lines] with my coach,” Dosedel said. “I took the script with me and I was learning. We were shooting one or two days. It was not that difficult.

“Also the producer of the movie helped me out a lot, if it was too long, the scene, he cut it short.”

The film, adapted from the book “Springs of Living Water,” bills itself as the story of “a poor countryman, led by his intuitions and by careful observation of nature, [who] becomes a renowned healer and founder of the first hydrotherapy institute in the world.”

“I like it,” Dosedel said. “When I saw the first few pictures, then I saw a few scenes, I was really anxious to see the whole movie. It was really nice. I was surprised.”

The premiere was held last fall in Jesenik, a resort in northern Moravia, the hometown of Priessnitz.

“The people were so excited, so happy,” he said. “This region is in the mountains. It’s not very famous. It’s like hidden behind the mountains. Poor people live there. So they were very excited that the rest of the Czech Republic hear about it.”

Now, it’s back to his day job for the man who plays tennis with a happy face stenciled into his racket. When he reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in September, he explained the happy face, saying: “Because I’m always looking to the strings. I put them back to the right position and I try to be positive. I try to be positive in my life. So if I look in the racket, it makes me feel a little bit better.”

Dosedel’s positive outlook--along with his teammates, Jiri Novak, Martin Damm and David Rikl--will be put to the test, starting Friday against the powerful U.S. Davis Cup team. He is getting ready to play against Andre Agassi on Friday, and possibly, Pete Sampras, if the quarterfinal has not been decided, on Sunday.

Although proficient on clay, Dosedel’s best Grand Slam event was at the U.S. Open on a hard-court surface when he lost to Todd Martin in the quarterfinals in 1999. This year, he lost to Sampras in four sets in the round of 16 at the Australian Open.

“I like to change my game a little bit,” he said. “I can play serve-and-volley sometimes. I usually try to play a different game against a different opponent.”

Novak, as the Czech Republic’s No. 1 player, is expected to play Sampras in the other singles match Friday. Novak took Sampras to five sets in the second round of the 1996 U.S. Open. ESPN commentator Cliff Drysdale asked Dosedel about the strongest aspect of Novak’s game.

“Will you tell Pete?” Dosedel said, smiling. “[Novak] doesn’t make too many mistakes.”

Dosedel finished a round of interviews on Wednesday and then went off to Hollywood with his agent and Patrick O’Neal, the former brother-in-law of McEnroe. They went to Paramount Pictures and filmed a spoof about Dosedel signing an acting contract with the studio.

O’Neal was introduced to Dosedel as his “key to Hollywood.”

“Sometimes it opens, sometimes it doesn’t,” O’Neal said, joking.

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DAVIS CUP

UNITED STATES vs. CZECH REPUBLIC

* When: Friday-Sunday.

* Where: Great Western Forum.

* Round: Quarterfinal.

* Teams: United States, singles: Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras; doubles: Alex O’Brien-Jared Palmer. Czech Republic, singles: Jiri Novak, Slava Dosedel; doubles: Martin Damm-David Rikl.

* TV: Friday: noon, ESPN; 3 p.m., ESPN2. Saturday: 2 p.m., ESPN (tape). Sunday: 2 p.m., ESPN (tape); 4:30 p.m., ESPN2 (if fifth match).

* Series: In their only meeting in Davis Cup, the Czech Republic defeated the U.S., 3-2, in 1996 quarterfinal.

* Tickets: Prices ranging from $20 to $450. Call TicketMaster at (213) 480-3232.