Kei Nishikori has come a long way to get his career back on track.
Sidelined for the last six months in 2017 with a wrist injury and forced to miss the US Open, Nishikori dropped down to the Challenger-level tournaments to quietly and hesitantly mount his comeback in January.
“I was playing one match at a time because I didn’t have any confidence and I was still worried about my wrist,“ said Nishikori.
In his first match back Nishikori lost to Dennis Novikov in a $150,000 event in Newport Beach, Calif. In his next outing, he won a $125,000 tournament in Dallas before returning to the ATP World Tour in February.
On Wednesday Nishikori will play Marin Cilic in this year's quarterfinals in a rematch of his 2014 US Open final against the powerful Croatian.
The No. 21-seeded Nishikori advanced to the final eight for the first time since making the semifinals in 2016 with a straight set win over Philipp Kolschreiber on a steamy Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds. The No. 7 seeded Cilic beat David Goffin also in straight sets.
“This year is easy for me because I don’t expect any big result,” said Nishikori, 28, who made his first Wimbledon quarterfinal this summer. “I try to play one match at a time. Right now I don’t have any pressure, but also enjoying playing every match and enjoying playing tennis again little more than before.”
Nishikori was ranked in the Top 10 for three years running starting in 2014 and is a huge star in his native Japan, his matches eagerly followed by journalists and fans. With compatriot Naomi Osaka also making waves in the women's draw, this is the first year since 1995 that Japan is represented in the quarterfinals of a Slam.
“I wanted to keep Top 10 every year and that gave me a little bit of pressure,” acknowledged Nishikori. “I kind of reset last year. Took six months off and this year, it’s been great.”
