Kei Nishikori is taking his gradual comeback one step at a time, but the former ATP Top 10 regular is also taking inspiration from the world's best.
Nishikori was out of the professional game for 20 months following hip surgery and the former US Open finalist made his long-awaited return at the Palmas del Mar Challenger in Puerto Rico in June. The Japanese player soon showcased his talent and won the Challenger event and dropped just one set en route to the title.
Although Nishikori has yet to emulate his initial success after early exits at the Cranbrook Tennis Classic and Chicago Challenger events he is still aiming high. When speaking to the official ATP website, the 33-year-old explained how watching Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and some of the younger players kept him motivated to come back when he was recovering from injury.
“I had hip surgery, I sprained my ankle during these 20 months, and my shoulder was bad. So I had a couple of different injuries. That was also why it was tough to maintain the motivation, but I just wanted to play tennis again and compete again."
"And especially watching Djokovic, Rafa still playing, fighting. And I haven’t played against [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Holger] Rune. That's something I also can't wait to play against them.”
Currently, Nishikori is taking things one match at a time as he looks to make a full recovery before challenging some of the best ATP players. However, such a goal is not out of the question for the former world number four as his next step is to get more playing time against some of the world's top players eventually. He managed to do that in his opening match at the 2023 Atlanta Open, beating Jordan Thompson in straight sets.
"I just need to play more matches, I think I just need to play with those Top-50 players again. I just need to get used to playing with those guys and get confidence again. Overall I'm really happy with how I'm playing. I just need to focus and recover well.”
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