Kei Nishikori makes stunning rankings breakthrough after thrilling run in Hong Kong
Japan’s Kei Nishikori admitted he didn’t know if he would make a return to the top of the men’s game after a series of injury concerns, but he has taken a big leap forward in the ATP Rankings after his impressive run at the Bank of China Hong Kong Open.
After China’s Shang Juncheng was forced to withdraw from his semi-final, Nishikori made it through to his first ATP Tour final in six long years.
Nishikori will now play in his 27th tour-level final and on Monday, he will be back into the top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since June 2022.
At the age of 35, his run in Hong Kong is a welcome boost to the former world No 4, who was a runner-up at the 2014 US Open.
After missing the 2022 season following hip surgery, Nishikori then suffered an ankle problem, with elbow, knee and shoulder injuries also thrown into his mix over the last few years.
Nishikori admitted he has had several moments when he questioned if he would ever get back to his best, but he has started 2025 in an encouraging fashion and his rankings leap will allow him to play in higher profile tournaments over the next few months if he can stay fit.
In an interview with the ATP Tour website last year, Nishikori looked back on his fitness issues as he explained the agonises he has got through to prolong is career.
“After eight or nine months of rehab after the hip surgery I was almost ready to come back when I sprained my ankle,” said Nishikori.
“It turned out to be complicated and much worse than what I first saw. That set me back another four or five months.
“My hip was not too bad, not like Andy,” Nishikori said. “We shaved some bone away and also I had a little bit of a tear in the labrum. Had I kept playing without the surgery then I may have had to do something like Andy did. But fortunately, I found out before it got really bad.
“I talked to James Duckworth, who had the same surgery and I was really surprised how quickly he came back to playing. But he told me that he had some issues, so perhaps he came back too early. I decided to take a little more time.
“One of my biggest doubts was whether I would be able to move like I used to. And also that you lose the feeling for the ball on the racquet and you have zero confidence. You’ve got to build again from zero, so it’s a tough mental challenge.”
“Once or twice I almost thought [about retiring]. It was mentally shocking to be so close and then to have a second injury. I wasn’t sure if I could come back from that. So that was the toughest time.”
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Nishikori went on to suggest he is now hoping to test himself against the new generation of stars as he eyed up a meeting with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
“One thing I hope to get the chance to do is to play against these great young players like Alcaraz, Rune and Sinner at some point,” he added. “That’s part of my motivation to try to play for a few more years.
“I don’t think we have seen anyone like Alcaraz before. He looks like Rafa but he has more speed. Good defence, unbelievable forehand and he has a good backhand too.”
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