Kei Nishikori Honestly Admits He No Longer Can Compete Against Top 100 Players: “I Have No Goals for Myself”

Kei Nishikori earned his first win this season at an ATP Challenger tournament in Thornville, France, where he was forced to play the qualifying rounds. The former World No.4 victory comes after four months, and he’s languishing outside the Top 200 of the ATP rankings, which means he can’t feature in the Sunshine Doubles.

Nishikori has not been the same since undergoing hip surgery in 2022. He made a comeback in 2023, but he has not performed as expected. The once-feared top-10 player who competed alongside the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic has struggled with form for the past two seasons.

He sustained an injury at the Canberra Challenger early this year, which forced him to withdraw from the Australian Open, and he has not played since then. But the former US Open finalist returned to compete at the ATP Challenger tournament in France and played in the qualifying draw.

He won his first two qualifying matches to earn his place in the main draw of the tournament. The Japanese star will face Frenchman Clement Tabur in the round of 32 of the Challenger event. The 36-year-old is currently ranked World No. 284, his lowest ranking since August 2024.

He is not ranked highly enough to play at the Sunshine Doubles, so he will have to compete at a lower-level Challenger tournament as an unseeded player. During an interview with L’Equipe at the tournament, he noted that he can no longer compete against players in the top 100 of the ATP rankings:

I still love competition, although it’s clear this is a smaller tournament than I’ve played in my career, but I still enjoy facing tough matches. I don’t think I can compete against the top 100 players anymore; I’m not young enough, my body and my game won’t allow it. First, I have to keep working, keep improving step by step, and try to appreciate every stage of the journey. I need to string matches together; if I can play for two or three months straight, I know I’ll regain my confidence…

Nishikori defeated World No.1,812 Daniel Jade 6-3, 6-3 in the opening match of the qualifying rounds in Thornville before overcoming World No.383 Jelle Sels in three sets. He will need to pick up enough points at the tournament, as he was competing in the Indian Wells at this time last year. He reached the second round in Indian Wells, earning 30 ranking points.

Kei Nishikori admits he doesn’t have any goals this season

Kei Nishikori is set to drop further in the ATP rankings as he earned 30 points in Indian Wells and 50 points at the ATP Challenger tournament in Phoenix last year in March. He’s currently participating in the Challenger in Thornville, and he’s scheduled to play qualifying rounds at another lower-level tournament in France.

For him to defend the 80 ranking points he earned in Indian Wells and Phoenix last year, he would need to reach the latter stages of one or both of the Challenger tournaments. During the aforementioned interview, he revealed that he doesn’t really have any goal on court this season as he just hopes to win consecutive matches, which will help his confidence:

I have no goals for myself this season, I just want to play and fight to win some points, to string together consecutive matches. If I think about it, I really don’t have any goals, neither in terms of qualification nor in terms of results.

Nishikori last cracked the ATP top 100 in 2021; since then, he has not been able to maintain good form on the court. The Japanese star has won 12 tour-level titles in his career, but the last time he lifted a trophy was at the 2019 Brisbane International, more than seven years ago.

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