Slovenian tennis officials are disappointed that three major players decided not to take part, especially as a win against Portugal, whose best players are ranked lower than Slovenia's, would bring the team closer to advancing to the World Group for the first time ever.

The up-and-coming Aljaž Bedene and Blaž Rola decided to skip the event in order to play at small tournaments to collect additional ATP points. Grega Žemlja (ranked 125th) meanwhile joined the team at the eleventh hour after cancelling due to health reasons.

Bedene currently ranks 104th Slovenian in the ATP World Tour, while Rola ranks 258th after gaining more than 150 points in the past year. Portugal's strongest player in Slovenia will be Joao Sousa, who is 59th on the ATP rankings.

Slovenia's best-ranked player Blaž Kavčič (99th) will however participate in the match against Portugal. Playing alongside him will be Janez Semrajc (305th), Mike Urbanija (589th) and Tom Kočevar Dešman (775th).

The first two individual matches will be played on Friday afternoon, followed by doubles matches on Saturday. The final two individual matches will be staged on Sunday.

To advance to the World Group, which was set as this year's main goal by the Slovenian Tennis Association, the Slovenian team has to win at least against Portugal and against Israel in the second round.