Japanese tennis sensation Kei Nishikori returned back to what he’s known best for after a long period of time. Since last year, the former World No. 4 has been dealing with hip issues that has kept him out of action. Not long ago, the 33-year-old player was in two minds, if he should continue playing or quit. But players young and old, the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, have inspired the Japanese into powering through.
He has begun competing this year and is playing at the ATP Challenger levels and has registered some positive results. And Kei now wants to compete with the best again as he used to do week-in, week-out a few years back.
Kei Nishikori Wants To Play Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune
Early last year, Nishikori announced that he will be undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left hip and that he would return after a period of six months. However, the wait was longer and it took him more than a year to be fully fit.
Kei mentioned that he took inspiration from the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on how they are still going hard for the biggest titles at this stage in their careers. He also spoke about seeing the hunger in the younger ones like Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune.
The Generation That Never Gives Up 💫 @keinishikori #AtlantaOpen pic.twitter.com/kMyIrW0fli
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 25, 2023
While speaking on this subject, he mentioned,
“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.”
Seeing a new generation competing at the highest level seems to have stoked the fire in Kei’s belly and to see his old rivals still around has only pushed him further to come back.
The Japanese won the trophy in Palmas Del Mar. On winning, he feels motivated and is raring to compete in the biggest of events in the due course of time.
Will Nishikori Play at US Open?
At the moment, he is focusing on competing at the Challenger levels. He will assess his progress and decide if he will be competing in the events at Toronto and Cincinnati. Nonetheless, he has been setting short term goals for himself.
However, he has set his goal to compete at the US Open this year. Besides, he also wants to enter the top 100 rankings again. It would be amazing to see him in New York, a place where he has performed best when he reached the US Open 2014 final.
