Nadal, Nishikori to join forces for Fast4 exhibition

Spanish tennis maestro Rafael Nadal and world number five Kei Nishikori will come together to play the men's doubles event in a Fast4 exhibition match to be held in Sydney in January next year, the tournament organizers have confirmed.

14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal and Japan's Nishikori will compete against the Australian pair of Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic in the event, which is billed as the Twenty20 of tennis.

Nadal, who played the exhibition this year alongside Gael Monfils, insisted that he finds the event extremely exciting for both players and fans after playing in the format twice, reports Sport24.

"It's very easy for the crowd to get involved in the match and it was a great atmosphere earlier this year," Nadal said.

The shortened format offers a "fast" alternative to tennis, with four points, four games and four rules: there are no advantage scores, lets are played, tie-breakers apply at three games all and the first to four games wins the set.