Already shorn of the services of Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova, Czechia were rocked by the withdrawal of former world No. 8 Karolina Muchova through injury on the eve of the Finals.
The response was to call up rising stars Sara Bejlek and Dominika Salkova, who together with Linda Noskova mean Czechia have three players at these Finals under the age of 21.
Undeterred, Pala believes Czechia’s Billie Jean King Cup backstory means that whoever he selects to take to the court in national team colours will rise to the occasion.
“I’m always happy and fortunate that we have such a good team and so many great girls coming up trying to lift the trophy,” said Pala, who first took charge of Czechia’s Billie Jean King Cup team in 2008.
“I am looking forward with this team. I haven’t checked the records but it might be the youngest we have ever had – it is certainly the youngest team that I have had.
“Czechia always love to play team competition, and we have won Billie Jean King Cup many times in the past and the girls that are coming want to be part of this team.
“We have a difficult tie against Poland, but I’m sure we will make it very difficult for our opponents. We can beat any team that’s here and I believe our past history in the competition counts.”