Kei Nishikori has pulled out of the inaugural ATP Cup and the Australian Open due to an elbow injury.
Having slipped to world no.13, the former US Open finalist was forced to opt-out of the tournaments ahead of the new season due to the elbow injury that kept him out of courts since the US Open where he lost to Alex de Minaur in the third round.
Nishikori’s withdrawal from the tournaments comes after Andy Murray’s withdrawal, as he was also forced to push his comeback till February due to a pelvic injury he sustained in the Davis Cup.
His case is also similar to that of Frenchman Lucan Pouille who was forced to miss the Australian Open and the ATP Cup due to an elbow injury which ended his season in early October. In 2019, Pouille had reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
Having reached a rarer high ranking of no.4 in 2015, Nishikori was the only Japanese tennis player to be ranked in the Top 5 and the only man from Asia to have reached a Grand Slam final and to have qualified for the ATP Finals where he reached the semi-finals twice, in 2014 and 2016. Nishikori reached the 2014 US Open finals but lost to Marin Cilic
Also Read:
At Melbourne Park, Nishikori has had an excellent record, being a quarterfinalist four times in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019. Disappointed about missing the first Grand Slam of the season and the opening tournament of the year in Australia is one of his “favourite places”, he said:
“We have made this decision as I am still not 100 per cent ready (or) healthy to compete at the highest level.”
Yoshihito Nishioka will replace Nishikori in Japan’s team for the ATP Cup as their highest-ranked player and will face off against Spain, Georgia and Uruguay in Perth beginning from January 3, 2020.
Be the first to comment