Kei Nishikori will attempt another comeback to tennis at the upcoming Miami Open, 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, with the majority on the ATP Challenger level.
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 he would try to come back to the sport he loves, as he wouldn't want to say goodbye away from the court.
The new attempt is going to happen this week, as Nishikori 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 in Miami many times, so it's a familiar place for a comeback. The draw wasn't that kind to him, though. He has a pretty tricky opponent in Sebastian Ofner in the first round, who can beat very solid players.
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 in the United States, but there are no easy opponents at the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.
Should Nishikori progress further, he could play against the 15th-seeded Karen Khachanov, and in the fourth round of the tournament, also against the fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev.