History Made: How Nishikori Became First-Ever Unranked Man To Win Challenger Title
ATP
Kei Nishikori made his return to tennis after a long absence due to a hip injury that required surgery. And it was a great return.
Nishikori is back! Literally back, both on the ATP Tour and on the ATP Rankings. The Japanese player is back on the rankings, having completely lost his ranking previously due to inactivity.
He made a return to the Top 500. Although that is a long way to, at least, the Top 50, where he certainly belongs, he's on the right track.
It's been a long time since Nishikori played before making his comeback. The Japanese player played his last match in October 2021. That was over 20 months ago.
Now, Nishikori appeared on the tennis courts again, and his return was really sensational. He bested everyone at the Challenger event in Puerto Rico, ending up with the trophy. Although it was "only" a Challenger trophy, it's still a trophy, his first since 2018.
It was a great moment for the Japanese player, as he really took a long time to get back. He had to push back the comeback multiple times. He initially planned to make a return at the Delray Beach Open.
Hip injuries are complicated, and a few players proved that recently. Andy Murray never got back to his best again, and Rafael Nadal has struggled as well. Nishikori's long absence shows how challenging his injury was.
The 2014 US Open finalist even admitted he battled depression due to an inability to get back to playing, but he refused to call it quits.
He didn't want to see his career end this year and promised to come back despite not being the youngest anymore. He proved it this week, beating Christian Langmo, Mitchell Krueger, Adam Walton, Gustavo Heide, and Michael Zheng to become the first-ever unranked player to win an ATP Challenger trophy.
It's a really rare feat, which was, unfortunately, possible only because of the Japanese player's long absence. Still, he will be happy to rewrite the history tables.
