Kei Nishikori makes retirement confession as he reveals what kept him going
Kei Nishikori came close to quitting tennis in 2024 following his career-threatening injuries, but now he seems to be back to his best as he saved two match points en route to reaching the second round of the 2025 Australian Open.
After the highs of a US Open runners-up title in 2014 and peaking at No 4 in the rankings the following year, Nishikori has suffered some bad injuries in recent years.
First he battled a wrist problem that kept him out of tennis for lengthy periods and resulted in a slump down the rankings, but just as he started making his way back he was forced to undergo hip surgery in 2022.
His comeback was slow and steady, but it took him until the backend of 2024 to finally find some form again and he returned to the top 100 at the beginning of the 2025 season after reaching the Hong Kong Open final.
And he continued his good form at the season-opening Grand Slam as he came back from the dead to beat Thiago Monteiro in the first round of the Australian Open. Having found himself 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 4-5 (30-40) down, the Japanese star won the final two sets 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.
When asked he came close to thinking ‘I can’t keep doing this; I need to stop?’ when he was out injured, he replied: “Yeah, almost. Almost last year because I had my knee and shoulder two years ago, and I almost came back. I got injured again. It was like up and downs.
“I was thinking, like, if I have maybe another surgery, then I think mentally I won’t be able to fight anymore. It was, like, two in a row. I had a year I couldn’t play and another half year I couldn’t play because of an injury I got, so… That was the toughest time I think, end of 2023 maybe.”
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But it was his love of tennis that forced him to keep going.
“I just still love to play tennis. I love to compete. I wanted to play on a big stadium like today. That was my goal a year ago when I was doing rehab. I still think that I have chances to play with these top players,” he said.
“I’m feeling that since the end of last year. I got more confidence. This last week also helped me to believe in myself. So I’m still really enjoying this moment, this practice, training. Training not so much, but I still do (smiling).”
