The tournament beefed up its pay for those who lose in the second, third and fourth rounds the most.
The 38-year-old plans to be back by the beginning of 2017 at the very latest.
Fed Cup becomes a day at the beach in Brisbane.
Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky opens against Barbora Strycova and defending champion Czech Republic.
Dominic Thiem didn't score the win but the 22-year-old Austrian made jaws drop with these two backhands.
When Roger Federer is on a roll, there aren't many ways to slow him down. Roberto Bautista Agut tried to do it in a creative way on Thursday in Monte-Carlo.
World No. 82 "will become the No. 1 in France very soon," says Gasquet.
