In my area, all the captains know each other, and will extend each other the courtesy of advance notification when a default is imminent.
Conversation usually goes like:
Captain A: Do you have enough people for the match tomorrow?
Captain B: Yes.
Captain A: Well, I'm going to have to default a court.
or,
Captain A: Do you have enough people for the match tomorrow?
Captain B: No, I'm probably going to be short.
Captain A: Me too, so looks like we have a double-default.
In the first instance, Captain B can put whoever he/she wants in the lineup for the defaulted court.
There is the odd captain who will try to game things, e.g. not let the other captain know in advance in the hopes that they will have a last-minute no-show, or lie and say they have availability when in fact they don't. But they are quickly found out and get a negative reputation.
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