Ex-US Open finalist Nishikori refuses to retire and fires new risk to Alcaraz
Kei Nishikori marked his first ATP Tour match in 21 months with a straight-sets win over Jordan Thompson and the Japanese star cannot wait to face Carlos Alcaraz in his quest to return to the highest in tennis. The 33-year-old reached the US Open last in 2014 and has made 12 Grand Slam quarter-finals throughout his profession, spending 212 weeks within the prime 10 of the ATP rankings.
But hip surgical procedure in January 2022 means he hasn’t hit a ball in anger since Indian Wells in October 2021 – till now.
In the 18 months since, Nishikori has seen a number of comeback makes an attempt scuppered by setbacks together with an ankle damage that worn out his 2022 season and noticed him tumble down the world rankings.
But having drawn inspiration from the likes of Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, he has no intention of retiring and is motivated to tackle the youthful rising stars of the sport, together with Holger Rune and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz.
But regardless of being extremely motivated now, Nishikori admits that has not all the time been the case and whereas he was out injured he turned “really depressed” and “thought about retiring”.
He informed ATPTour.com: “It was tough to maintain the motivation, but I just wanted to play tennis again and compete again.
“And especially watching [Novak] Djokovic, Rafa [Nadal] still playing, fighting. And I haven’t played against Alcaraz, Rune. That’s something I also can’t wait to play against them.”
Having fully dropped out of the world rankings, Nishikori has needed to construct his comeback path on the Challenger tour.
He began off by profitable the Palmas del Mar title earlier than dropping within the second spherical to world No 161 Denis Kudla in an occasion at Bloomfield Hills. He then reached the quarter-finals in Chicago earlier than taking place to world No 160 Alex Michelsen.
However, his 7-6, 7-6 victory in opposition to 63rd-ranked Thompson in Atlanta is the perfect results of his comeback so far. He will now face China’s JC Shang in a final 16 match on Thursday.
Speaking on-court after the first-round match, Nishikori mentioned: “Not [an] easy first round against Jordan. He’s very steady from the baseline. He doesn’t miss much and I have to be aggressive all the time.
“But I’m quite happy [with] the way I played today. There were some moments that I should have stepped up a little more. But with these tough conditions, I’m happy to win in two sets.
“I played good, actually. I played a couple of Challengers before here and I didn’t play [for] almost two years. It was a pretty good level, I think. And yeah, I just keep playing my best and hope I can stay later this week.”