Kei Nishikori motivated by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to fight against youngsters as he makes a delayed injury comeback

Kei Nishikori says how Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal motivated him during the injury break.

Kei Nishikori motivated by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to fight against youngsters as he makes a delayed injury comeback

Kei Nishikori, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal (Credits: Planet Sport, Tennis365)

Former World No.4 Kei Nishikori opened up on his excitement to be back on the tour after a further delay in the injury break. The 33-year-old has said that the legends of the game- Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic motivated him to fight throughout his injury break. He also quoted the names of young guns against whom he is excited to play.

As per Nishikori, “It was tough to maintain the motivation, but I just wanted to play tennis again and compete again. And especially watching Djokovic, Rafa still playing, fighting. And I haven’t played against Alcaraz, Rune. That’s something I also can’t wait to play against them.”

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The Japanese star is currently playing in the Atlanta Open and has reached the second round. It will be interesting to see whether Nishikori can cope with the young guns when they meet in the coming tournaments. Currently ranked at 439, Nishikori is playing a lot of challenger tournaments to get back into the top spots. (Source: Tennis TV)

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Kei Nishikori is currently playing in the Atlanta Open

Kei Nishikori (Credits : New Yorker)
Kei Nishikori (Credits: New Yorker)

The Japanese star Kei Nishikori recently became champion at the Caribbean Open. This is an ATP Challenger Tour 75 event held in Puerto Rico. He defeated America’s Michael Zheng in the final there. After almost 2 years of absence from the tour due to his elbow injury concerns, the title in Puerto Rico was like a fairytale comeback of the Japanese star.

Currently, he has reached the second round of the Atlanta Open after beating Jordan Thompson in the first round. The final score was 7-6 (5), 7-6(5). It will be interesting to see whether the former US Open finalist can do some magic on the US hard-court tour this year despite playing very less tournaments in recent months.

Kei Nishikori has a history of making it to the US Open finals in 2014 after defeating the number one seed Novak Djokovic in the last four. That semi-final victory is still considered to be one of the greatest underdog stories in the modern game.

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