South Africa arrived in Portugal earlier in the week for the all-important game against a strong host.

During their four previous ties against South Africa beat Estonia, Slovenia and Denmark, however, they lost 3-2 to Israel.

The Bloemfontein-born Ondruska says that their preparation has gone well.

"It's safe to say that as a group they are in the best possible condition.

“Philip Henning was the last player to arrive this morning, we have had some good practice sessions on the clay and the players are healthy and ready to play.

"We have been lucky to have the indoor clay facilities to practice on with the weather being temperamental so we have not lost out on important clay court time since we arrived in Lisbon this past weekend.

"Today we managed to get a hit on the match court and it plays a bit slower than the indoor courts so we will need to make slight adjustments but I'm confident that we will be ready for the tie come Friday.

“These players campaign around the world and encounter various conditions and they learn to adapt.

"We expected Portugal as hosts to hand us a slower surface. That’s their home advantage. So my team are adjusting their mindset and settling well to the clay and conditions.”

Play in Lisbon will get underway on Friday.

 Teams:

Portugal – Joao Sousa (43rd singles, 44th doubles), Pedro Sousa (144th singles, 386th doubles), Gastao Elias (192th single, 594th doubles), Joao Domingues (207th singles, 488th doubles), Nuno Marques (captain).

South Africa - Lloyd Harris (113th), Nik Scholtz (492nd), Raven Klaasen (18th doubles), Ruan Roelofse (158th doubles), Philip Henning (60th ITF Junior ranking), Marcos Ondruska (captain).

@MorganPiek OFM Sport