The Czech team is dealing with problems in preparation for the Davis Cup qualification. Conditions are disastrous, reports captain Navrátil from Portugal

On Sunday, the Czech team flew to Portugal, where it will play a qualifying match for the 111th Davis Cup on 4 and 5 February. In the venue of the duel for the qualification to the final tournament, the selection of the non-playing captain Jaroslav Navrátil faces difficulties in the form of a big winter. The hotel rooms and the hall where the match will be played are unheated.

Navrátil announced this in an online interview on Monday. “Kurt is excellent, but it’s five degrees in the hall. You can’t imagine how cold it was. The conditions are catastrophic, let’s see what we can do about it,” the Czech News Agency quoted him as saying.

The unusual conditions in the town of Maia, where the attention of Czech tennis fans will be focused this weekend, are to blame. During the day, the temperature is said not to exceed 10 degrees Celsius, which is not common in the region, whose capital is Porto.

The problem is that it will probably be difficult to heat the covered outdoor clay court, which has no heating. This is specifically located in a complex called Complexo Municipal de Ténis da Maia.

According to Navratil’s statement, there was also no heat in most of the hotel rooms where the team members are staying. In fact, apart from three, the others were only seven degrees at night.

The players themselves are also complaining about the conditions. For example, Tomas Machac admitted that the transition from warm Australia to such a cold is not pleasant. There are also concerns about possible injuries to the tennis players.

“The last time I got injured, it was really cold and it was raining, so I respect that. You have to warm up well and play at a good pace, you can’t get stiff,” says the 22-year-old Machac.

Jaroslav Navrátil said the situation will be resolved with the referees, who should arrive during the day on Tuesday. He also said that the team members will probably go to buy the necessary warm clothes and maybe even heaters to raise the temperature in the rooms.

Czech men’s tennis will be represented by five representatives at the end of the week. They are Australian Open quarterfinalist Jiri Lehecka, the aforementioned Tomas Machac, 25-year-old Vit Kopriva, doubles specialist Adam Pavlasek and Davis Cup debutant Jakub Mensik.

Source:: ČTK, Tennis World