“We are flying again to Spain, to Malaga. We are definitely going there with humility, because Australia is a very good team. They have an excellent first player (Álex) De Minaur and a fantastic doubles (Max) Purcell, (Matthew) Ebden,” said Navrátil. “But we are excited after the group. Beating Serbia and Spain was excellent. We are not going there to lose and we will try to get to the semi-finals via Australia,” added Navrátil.
The Czechs fought their way to the elimination stage for the top eight in the new format for the first time. Two years ago they finished in the basic group, last year they failed in the qualification against Argentina. The Australians are defending their participation in last year’s final in Málaga.
“There will definitely be a chance, because it is played for two winning points. And even if you play doubles against quality opponents at 1:1, there is always a chance,” said Macháč, who moved up to 64th place in the world rankings thanks to the latest results. “Now I didn’t play at all, I was sick, but I think four days for preparation is just right. We are definitely excited to beat them,” said the native of Beroun.
This year’s Australian Open quarterfinalist Leheček, who, on the other hand, lost five out of seven matches after the September phase of the Davis Cup, will also be ready in the role of number one. He ended the season at the end of October so that he could prepare for the team competition in Málaga.
“After arriving from Paris, I trained in the Czech Republic and unfortunately slightly strained my abdominal muscle. That was one of the reasons why I missed the last tournament of the year,” noted Lehečka. “I had to take a break. Abdominal muscle is a slightly more complicated injury. But I rested well and trained fully all week. I believe that I will now follow up on that at the training units in Málaga,” said the 31st player in the world.
Only eighteen-year-old Menšík will arrive in Spain on his own, as he is still playing challenger in the Swedish Danderyd. “The training was planned, but due to the fact that Cuba still decided to play tournaments and Tomáš was sick after the tournament in Helsinki, only Adam and Jirka spent the whole week preparing in Prostějov. I think they have enough training, just like they had before Valencia. And now we will have a training space for each player for about three, four hours. I think it’s enough,” said Navrátil.
The knockout part of the Davis Cup is played on a hard surface in the hall of José María Martín Carpena. The winner of the match between the Czech Republic and Australia will face either reigning champions Canada or Finland in the semi-finals. The Czechs dominated the competition in 2012 and 2013, when it was still played in an earlier format.
“It flies. Memories are wonderful. The boys won the Davis Cup ten years ago, so I hope we have a chance this year as well. The starting line is the same for all teams and we are going to fight for it. We are facing a difficult but playable opponent,” added Navrátil.