Nishikori survives dogfight, urges Davis Cup revamp

Melbourne : Japan's Kei Nishikori called for changes to the Davis Cup format after coming through a gruelling five-set dogfight in his opening match at the Australian Open on Monday.

The fifth seed was on court for three-and-a-half hours in sapping heat before he completed a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2 win over 48th-ranked Russian Andrey Kuznetsov to maintain his unbeaten record in five-set matches in Melbourne.

Nishikori has pulled out of Japan's Davis Cup tie against France in Tokyo the week after the Australian Open, blaming the scheduling of the teams event.

"I'm not playing because of the schedule, it's gonna be too tight," Nishikori said.

"Going to South America, Rio and Buenos Aires, and if I play Davis Cup, that's way too much for my body and Indian Wells and Miami (tournaments) are coming up after. So I just decided not to play."

Nishikori also said changes to format of the Davis Cup, the annual international competition billed as the 'World Cup of tennis', were overdue to make it shorter.

Davis Cup ties are spread across the year and teams that reach the final will have played four weekends at venues around the world.

"I hope they can make some changes. Yeah, right now I think it's way too much to play three times or even if you play final, maybe four times," he said.

"I think that has to change, for sure, to make it shorter. I think all the players -- I don't know if all, but I think most of them are hoping to change."