The comeback of Kei Nishikori was going well for about a few matches, and since then, it's been a struggle for the Japanese player.
Kei Nishikori missed a good chunk of this year's calendar due to a hip injury that has kept him out of tennis for over a year. There were plans in place for Nishikori to return earlier than he ultimately did this year but it didn't quite work out that way as he kept pushing his return back.
The Japanese player finally made his comeback on the ATP Challenger Tour in Puerto Rico in the middle of June. He played really well, which surprised many people, and actually ended up with the trophy after beating Michael Zheng in the final.
Nishikori played some two weeks later at the Bloomfield Challenger but didn't do much there, losing in the second round. He also played in Chicago and Atlanta, with the latter being the only ATP event he played this year.
It was a nice experience for him as he actually won two matches before losing to Taylor Fritz. Unfortunately, that would be the last event he played this year as injuries returned once more Nishikori was quite open about considering retirement during his injury absence due to the way his body seemingly can't handle the rigors of top-level tennis anymore.
Even so, he opted against it, wanting to give it another shot, and it looked good, but unfortunately, there wasn't any good news coming out of his camp. He was scheduled to play next week at the 2023 Japan Open in Tokyo, but he won't because he's still dealing with injuries.
It's a shame for Nishikori, who hasn't played on native soil since the Tokyo Olympics a few years ago. There are generally few chances for him to play in Japan, and not having a chance to play there is devastating to him. It likely would have been the last time.
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