Kei Nishikori Shines in Atlanta Open. His first ATP Tournament in Two Years. 

Kei Nishikori former World No. 4 is looking to be back in spectacular form in his first ATP Tour tournament since the BNP Paribas Open in October 2021. Nishikori underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery in 2022 and returned to the ATP Challenger Tour last month, winning a title in Puerto Rico. Friday will be his first tour-level quarter-final since August 2021. 

The 33-year-old defeated Shang Juncheng 6-4, 7-6(3) on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Atlanta Open. Nishikori showed his veteran prowess with dazzling all-court game and relentless attacking to advance. At 5-3 in the second-set tie-break, Nishikori won a lengthy 21-shot rally to earn a match point before securing a spot in the quarterfinals with a clean ace.

“It’s always tough coming back from injury, I was out for almost two years,” Nishikori said. “I just came back, played the last couple tournaments and coming into here, I’m feeling pretty good. Luckily I won two rounds here and happy to play another one tomorrow.” 

While Nishikori is 33 now, he admitted to considering retirement, and found the mountain to climb of another comeback intimidating. For his surgery, he had to have the bones in his hip narrowed to relieve the pain. He’s off to a fantastic start and looks to Alcaraz as inspiration for continuing strong in spite of adversity. 

“One thing I hope to get the chance to do is to play against these great young players like Alcaraz, Rune and Sinner at some point,” he said. “That’s part of my motivation to try to play for a few more years.” 

“I don’t think we have seen anyone like Alcaraz before. He looks like Rafa but he has more speed. Good defense, unbelievable forehand and he has a good backhand too.”

Nishikori has sound fundamentals and some of the most consistent ball-striking on tour. On Tuesday night, this playstyle he is known for was on full display. His speed was good, but not quite up to par to compete against top-10 players. He defended well and pounced at opportune times against Jordan Thompson in his last match. 

Nishikori said there are no goals for him yet, just to play consistently to regain his stamina and rhythm. “I’ll try to play one match at a time, and try to win this type of tough, tough match,” Nishikori said. “I just need more confidence to play with top players.”

Nishikori was training in Bradenton, Florida at the end of 2022 to be ready for his return at the start of 2023. A minor ankle sprain turned into something much more serious that would delay his comeback to the ATP Tour.  

“After eight or nine months of rehab after the hip surgery, I was almost ready to come back when I sprained my ankle,” Nishikori said Tuesday at the Atlanta Open. “It turned out to be complicated and much worse than what I first saw. That set me back another four or five months.”

Nishikori will play Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals this Friday. While Nishikori has won all of their past matches, the last time they played was in 2019 when Fritz was relatively new to the tour and Nishikori was much more established as a Top 10 player. Both players are thrilled to play on their preferred surface and together have won all six sets that they have played in Atlanta. 

Playing two matches back to back will be in favor of Fritz. The shorter rest will play into Fritz’s advantage. Fritz has a huge serve and forehand which he can depend on. This could negate Nishikori’s reliable defense. The match takes place at 12:00pm this Friday live on Tennis TV.

Stay tuned for more breaking tennis coverage and updates.

Featured Image courtesy of Atlanta Open

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