Nick Kyrgios named by Australia for Davis Cup finals

Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt says he has been willing to overlook Nick Kyrgios's recent outbursts on the ATP Tour to select the talented but wayward star in his team for the revamped Davis Cup finals.

Kyrgios is currently serving six months probation on the ATP tour after a meltdown at the Cincinnati tournament in August and calling the ATP "pretty corrupt" during this year's US Open.

The suspended sentence applies only to the ATP Tour and not the Davis Cup and Hewitt is confident the 24-year-old Kyrgios will be on his best behavior at the 18-team world finals in Madrid from Nov. 18 to 24. Hewitt said Kyrgios's latest ban had not affected his decision to select the player in a strong Australian team, drawn in a group with Belgium and Colombia.

The Australia team also includes world No. 28 Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson, John Millman and doubles specialist John Peers.

"I have been watching that closely," Hewitt said of Kyrgios. "I feel like on the Davis Cup court he's done absolutely everything I've needed in the past; he hasn't put a foot wrong.

"There's a lot of things he does in a team environment that I actually think we will see the best of him."

Hewitt, a two-time Davis Cup winner with Australia, said Kyrgios had withdrawn from recent tournaments with a shoulder injury.

"After the Laver Cup he had a shoulder (or) collarbone injury which he's pretty much over now but he had to take a few weeks out as he felt like if he kept playing that was going to jeopardize his chances of possibly playing Davis Cup," Hewitt said.

"He comes in a little bit underdone but I'm fortunate he's a guy who can light it up when he needs to and I think he's a guy that this format will suit."

Denis Shapovalov gets call for Canada's Davis Cup team

Fresh off his first ATP Tour title, Denis Shapovalov has been named to Canada's team for the inaugural Davis Cup Finals.

Shapovalov, who won the Stockholm Open on Sunday, will be joined by Felix Auger-Aliassime, Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil at the Davis Cup Finals on Nov. 18-24 in Madrid.

Canada is grouped with Italy and the United States. There are six groups in the 18-team event. The group winners and the next two best teams advance to the quarterfinals.

This marks the first time the Davis Cup champion will be crowned at a neutral site during a weeklong event. Previously, World Group matches were played over the course of a year, with a best-of-five final at a home venue.

Federer wins easily at Basel in 1,500th tour singles match

Playing in his 1,500th tour-level match, Roger Federer needed just 53 minutes to cruise past German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk 6-2, 6-1 Monday at his hometown Swiss Indoors event.

The nine-time Basel champion hit 12 aces in the first-round match to extend his winning streak at St. Jakobhalle to 21 straight matches, and improve his ATP career record to 1,232 wins and 268 losses. The 38-yearold Swiss is top-seeded this week as he looks to add to his 102 career tour titles.

Federer won the last four times he played the Swiss Indoors — missing the 2016 edition through injury — since a 2013 final loss against Juan Martin del Potro.

He next plays 33rd-ranked Dusan Lajovic or 49th-ranked Radu Albot.

2014 US Open runner-up Nishikori to have right elbow surgery

Kei Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open runner-up, will have season-ending surgery on his right elbow and is aiming to be ready to go for the start of 2020.

Nishikori's manager, Olivier van Lindonk, wrote in an email Monday that the right-hander from Japan will have a "small procedure removing two small bone spurs" in the elbow.

The procedure is scheduled for Tuesday. That means Nishikori will miss the Paris Masters indoor hard-court tournament next week and the Davis Cup Finals that begin in Madrid on Nov. 18.

Van Lindonk said the goal is for Nishikori to be able to begin his offseason training for 2020 at the start of December. The next Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, starts Jan. 20.

Nishikori has not competed since a third-round loss at the U.S. Open in September.

According to van Lindonk, Nishikori has struggled with irritation in his elbow since the French Open in May.

Despite that, Nishikori reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros before losing to 12-time champion Rafael Nadal, then followed that up by also reaching the round of eight at Wimbledon in July before losing there to eight-time champion Roger Federer.

"He has tried to heal this with rest," van Lindonk wrote, mentioning five tournaments that Nishikori pulled out of because of the problematic elbow, and added: "But time has proven that rest & rehab was not enough."

The 29-year-old Nishikori has been ranked as high as No. 4 and is currently No. 8. He closes 2019 with a 29-14 record and one title.

Nishikori and two-time Grand Slam title winner Naomi Osaka, who also plays for Japan, are expected to be two of the biggest stars at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

He was the first man born in Asia to reach a major championship final when he was the runner-up to Marin Cilic at Flushing Meadows five years ago.

And at the U.S. Open a year ago, Nishikori and Osaka gave Japan a men's semifinalist and a women's semifinalist at the same Grand Slam tournament for the first time.