Court testing to take place on Monday

Spain's Davis Cup team lands in Prague next Sunday or Monday - depending on how David Ferrer and the doubles partnership of Marcel Granollers and Marc López fare at the Masters Cup in London – in an attempt to win its sixth silver punchbowl in thirteen years. However, even if the national team, captained by Alex Corretja had arrived earlier, it wouldn't have been able to train on the Novacrylic Ultracushion court, purpose-built for the occasion at the Prague's O2 Arena before next week.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) doesn't require the courts to be ready until just four days before play starts. Thus, Spain was made aware two weeks ago that there would be a concert at the final's venue on Saturday 10th November and the courts would be readied afterwards, taking no longer than 24 hours.
However, whilst the Czech Federation insists that the playing surface that is hosting the final will be within the established parameters, the Spanish team suspects that it will be a very fast surface, similar to an indoor carpet, which is no longer used in professional tournaments and is banned under regulations.
The court's speed will be tested next Monday. It will be measured through the impact of a ball on the surface using a revolutionary machine that the ITF rolled out in 2008 to stop host nations making the tournament tricky for visitors.