Kei Nishikori has had a turbulent season, and the main obstacle to his success was injuries, because of which we fans cannot enjoy his great performances. Kei Nishikori was forced to miss the US Open due to a back injury, and such an outcome was hard to accept.
The Japanese tennis player struggled with shoulder and back injuries during this season, but he still had some shining moments, such as the ATP Hong Kong Open, where he reached the final. Unfortunately, the experienced tennis player was unable to overcome the last obstacle.
In several media interviews, Kei Nishikori emphasized how tired he was, and he also higlighted his busy schedule, which most of his colleagues talked about.
Nishikori appeared at the last Challenger in Yokohama, facing a serious opponent, Kaichi Uchida. Nishikori failed to win, as Uchida went 2-0 in sets, 2-6, 2-6.
The experienced tennis player was not overly negative, aware that he has a bright future ahead of him, with the potential to do serious things.
"The good thing for today is, I felt motivated, it's the first time for a while, I was happy for that. I wanted to play a good match from the beginning. Expected it would be the last match whether I win or lose, so it kinda felt like enough, but it was a good match."- Nishikori said.
Nishikori shares his plan for the future
Moments like this shape you and help you in the long run, but will they help the Japanese as well? Nishikori feels that he has the potential to take important steps towards the future, but now he must learn from his latest defeat and focus on the aspects of his game where he was not dominant.
"There were some good, and also many thinigs that I have to get back & improve through playing matches.
I've had practice w/ JP players for the last 3 weeks & felt a bit like I can still make it. If I excert this in a match, I might be able to make it, I kinda feels like this."
Kai is looking forward to the future, but it is difficult for him to create concrete plans, given that there are many questions hanging over his head. It is difficult to assess whether injuries will knock on his door again, but his strong ambitions are present, which is the most important thing.
"But it should be a long way to go no doubt, so it's all about if I can persevere. Can't have any vision for the future yet, but it's really nice to play 3 matches here before the AO rather than being tight there. Still have more bad things than good now, I'd like to improve them."- he concluded.
