Kei Nishikori Learns Draw For His First Tournament Of Second Comeback Attempt

Kei Nishikori will attempt another comeback to tennis at the upcoming Miami Masters, and he didn't get an easy draw.

The last time Nishikori stood on a tennis court was last year at the Atlanta Open. He had just gotten his first ATP Tour-level win in a long time, and he was looking good. The Japanese player would eventually win two matches at the event and lose the third against Taylor Fritz 4-6 2-6.

There was a lot of optimism back then surrounding Nishikori, who hoped to continue his comeback at the US Open. But disaster struck, and he injured himself again. He wouldn't play a match the rest of the year,concluding his 2023 campaign with only 13 matches.

It's been a tough time for him lately, as he missed the entirety of 2022 with injuries and 2020 as well. Giving up was never on the menu for Nishikori, who promised himself to try to come back to the sport he loves, as he wouldn't want to say goodbye away from the court.

Well, the new attempt is going to happen this week, as Nishikroi skipped all the events so far to come back at the Miami Open. These courts are quite familiar to him, as he lives in and trains in Florida. He's played here many times, so it's not the worst place for a comeback.

The draw wasn't that kind to him, though. He has a pretty tricky opponent in Sebastian Ofner, who will beat you if you give him a chance. We don't really know what to expect from Nishikori, but if he shows up healthy and with his signature tennis, he can surely win the match.

Francisco Cerundolo would await in the second round, another tough opponent who has had some good showings here, but such is today's tennis. There are no easy opponents.