Kei Nishikori won't be playing at the 2024 Halle Open because he suffered yet another injury setback while competing at the Roland Garros.
The Japanese player spent most of the past three years away from tennis courts due to injuries. It's an all too familiar story for Nishikori, who dealt with many injuries over the years; it's basically what he's most known for, which is a shame because we're talking about a really strong tennis player who, at his peak, was in the Top 10.
Despite many injuries, Nishikori never gave up on playing tennis. He worked through surgeries and long months of recovery just to find himself back on the courts, and when he finally got there, he looked good.
He won matches on the ATP Tour last year and even won a match at a Grand Slam recently. It was in Paris that Nishikori finally played at a Grand Slam again, his first since the 2022 US Open.
Unfortunately, it was a short-lived run. He was forced to retire against Ben Shelton after they endured a rain delay. Nishikori experienced shoulder issues during the match and used the rain delay to get them checked out.
After that, he retired before they ever got back onto the tennis court. Obviously, that's not the way he wanted his comeback to continue, but it's not a huge surprise either because of his history with injuries.
The good thing about all of that is that it wasn't the hip that gave him major issues in the past couple of years. The shoulder issue doesn't seem like a minor setback, though, as he withdrew from the Halle Open, which also puts his Wimbledon participation in doubt.
It would have been great to see him in London, but now, with this most recent setback, it's pretty hard to imagine he'll be there.
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