194 Facts About Nishikori

Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player.

Nishikori is the second male Japanese player to have been ranked in the top 5 in singles, and the only one to do so in the Open Era.

Nishikori first reached his career-high singles ranking of world No 4 in March 2015.

Nishikori has won 12 singles titles and was runner-up at the 2014 US Open, making him the first male player representing an Asian country to reach a Grand Slam singles final.

Nishikori became the first man from Asia to qualify for the ATP Finals and reached the semifinals in 2014 and 2016.

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Nishikori's father, Kiyoshi, is an engineer, and his mother, Eri, is a piano teacher.

Nishikori has an older sister, Reina, who graduated from college and works in Tokyo.

Nishikori first won the All Japan Tennis Championships for Kids in 2001, and graduated from Aomori-Yamada High School.

Nishikori moved to Bradenton, Florida to join the IMG Academy in 2004 at 14 years of age.

Nishikori married his long-term girlfriend Mai Yamauchi in December 2020.

Nishikori's pastimes include football, golf, reading, and listening to music.

Nishikori played his first junior match in April 2002 at the age of 13 at a grade 1 tournament in Japan.

Nishikori won the 2004 title at the Riad 21 Tournament in Rabat, Morocco, and was a boys' singles quarter-finalist at the 2006 Junior French Open; he partnering Emiliano Massa to win the boys' doubles title at that tournament.

Nishikori won the 2007 Luxilon Cup held at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open by defeating Michael McClune.

Nishikori partnered with Young to win the doubles title at Little Rock.

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Nishikori paired with triple French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, but the two were defeated in the first round.

Nishikori served as a hitting partner for Roger Federer at Wimbledon.

Nishikori beat Alejandro Falla in the first round to record his first ATP main-draw win.

Nishikori followed that up with a three-set win over Michael Berrer, the eliminator of seventh seed Robby Ginepri, to advance to his first ATP quarterfinal.

Later that month, Nishikori headed to Washington, DC for his third career ATP event.

Nishikori defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili in the first round before falling to Julien Benneteau in the second.

Nishikori participated in the tournament's draw ceremony and was honored with an award from the Tokyo Sports Writers Club.

Nishikori finished the year representing Japan at the Asian Hopman Cup competition in Bangkok, Thailand.

Nishikori started the year by reaching the semifinals of the Miami challenger tournament.

Nishikori then entered the Delray Beach tournament as a qualifier ranked world No 244.

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Nishikori gained entrance to the main draw by defeating Nicolas Todero and Alex Bogomolov Jr.

Nishikori lost in the first round of the Miami Masters to the Spanish player Albert Montanes.

Nishikori faced James Blake again, this time at the River Oaks International tournament in Houston, Texas in the first round, but Kei lost in two sets.

Nishikori went out in the third round of the 2008 Queen's Club Championships against Rafael Nadal in just over two hours.

Nishikori made his debut at the US Open, defeating 29th seeded Juan Monaco in the first round.

Nishikori cruised to the third round, after downing Croatian Roko Karanusic.

Nishikori lost his chance to compete in the quarterfinals when he was beaten by 17th seed Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets.

Nishikori was given a wildcard for the Stockholm Open, where he made it to his second ATP level semifinal of the year, despite playing with a knee injury.

Nishikori received a walkover in his quarterfinal match against Mario Ancic, who had to withdraw due to illness.

Nishikori made a disappointing start to the season, losing to Jurgen Melzer in the first round of the Australian Open.

On 25 March, Nishikori was named 2008 ATP Newcomer of the Year and became the first Asian player to win the award.

Nishikori withdrew from the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open because of an injured right elbow.

Nishikori made his comeback after his injury of the previous year.

Nishikori rebounded from two sets down to defeat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia in the first round but he lost his second match against Novak Djokovic.

Nishikori lost to Richard Gasquet in the first round of the 2010 Aegon Championships.

Nishikori ousted the 11th seed in 5 sets to advance to the third round, his best Grand Slam tournament showing in 2010.

Nishikori opened the season in Chennai, where he upset two-time defending champion Marin Cilic in the first round, before falling in the quarterfinals to Janko Tipsarevic.

Nishikori's run was ended in the third round by ninth seed Fernando Verdasco.

At the first two ATP Masters Series events of the year, Nishikori suffered a first-round loss at Indian Wells and a second-round loss in Miami.

Nishikori then reached his second final at the 2011 US Men's Clay Court Championships.

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Nishikori faced Lleyton Hewitt in the first round at Wimbledon, but lost in four sets.

Nishikori then retired in his first-round match against Flavio Cipolla at the US Open.

Nishikori defeated Robin Haase, fourth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Santiago Giraldo, in the first three rounds.

Nishikori lost to No 2 Andy Murray in his first Masters 1000 semifinal.

Nishikori reached a career-high of world No 30, breaking the previous Japanese mark of No 46, set by Shuzo Matsuoka in July 1992.

Nishikori started the season at the Brisbane International, where he lost in the second round to Marcos Baghdatis.

At the 2012 Australian Open, Nishikori came back from a set down to defeat sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, where he was then defeated by fourth seed Andy Murray.

Nishikori was the first Japanese male player to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 80 years.

Nishikori made it to the quarterfinals of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships after beating Belgian Olivier Rochus in three sets.

Nishikori and Go Soeda lost in the first round of the men's doubles.

Nishikori did better in Cincinnati, making it to the third round before being defeated by Stan Wawrinka, who ended up a semifinalist in the event.

Nishikori's win was historic as he became the first Japanese man to win the Japan Open in its 41-year history.

Nishikori started the year by playing the Brisbane International and reached the semifinals before retiring to Andy Murray because of a knee injury.

Nishikori then reached the fourth round of the Australian Open before falling to fourth-seeded David Ferrer.

Nishikori was bothered by a nagging knee injury throughout the match.

Nishikori then won his third career title in the US National Indoor Championships by defeating Feliciano Lopez in straight sets.

In 2013 US Open first round, Nishikori lost to a lower-ranked opponent, this time to world No 179 Dan Evans in straight sets.

Nishikori made it to the fourth round in the Australian Open, but was dismissed by Rafael Nadal in straight sets without much trouble.

Nishikori defended his title at the US National Indoor Tennis Championships in Memphis, defeating Ivo Karlovic in the final.

Nishikori then played at the Masters 1000 event in Miami, where he was seeded 20th.

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Nishikori saved four match points before defeating 4th seed David Ferrer and advanced to the semifinals with a three-set win against 5th seed Roger Federer.

Nishikori withdrew from Japan's Davis Cup quarterfinal against the Czech Republic.

Nishikori beat David Ferrer in three sets in the semifinal, and faced world No 1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal in the final.

Nishikori lost in the first round of the French Open to Martin Klizan in three sets.

Nishikori bounced back from the French Open first round loss in the grass court season by reaching the semifinals of the 2014 Gerry Weber Open before losing to Roger Federer in straight sets.

Nishikori participated in the Wimbledon Championships and made it to the fourth round after surviving a tight 5-setter against clay-court specialist Simone Bolelli, but eventually lost in the fourth round to Milos Raonic, despite winning the opening set.

Nishikori opened his hard-court season by participating in the Citi Open.

Nishikori reached the quarterfinals only to be beaten by Richard Gasquet for the fifth time in his career in straight sets.

Nishikori reached his first Grand Slam final at the 2014 US Open.

Nishikori became the first Japanese man in 81 years to reach the semifinals at a Major since Jiro Sato in 1933 French Championships.

Nishikori then defeated world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals to become the first Asian man ever to reach a Grand Slam tournament final.

Nishikori's run at the US Open saw his singles ranking improve to world No 8.

Nishikori began the Asian Swing by entering the Malaysian Open as first seed and won for a third season title, beating Julien Benneteau in two sets.

Nishikori then went on to participate in the Rakuten Japan Open and won the title for the second time defeating Milos Raonic in the final.

Nishikori then played in the BNP Paribas Masters and reached the semifinals, defeating Tommy Robredo, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Ferrer, each in three sets.

Nishikori began the 2015 season by participating in the 2015 Brisbane International and reached the semifinals before being beaten by Milos Raonic in 3 tight-set tiebreaks.

Nishikori reached the 2015 Brisbane International doubles finals with his partner Alexandr Dolgopolov but lost in straight sets.

Nishikori equalled his best record yet in the Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals for the second time in his career, dropping only 2 sets along the way, but he was beaten in straight sets by defending champion Stan Wawrinka.

Nishikori next participated in the 2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel and reached the final, losing only a set to Kevin Anderson in the semifinals.

Nishikori began his clay-court season at the 2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell where he reached the final after beating Teymuraz Gabashvili, Santiago Giraldo, Roberto Bautista Agut and Martin Klizan.

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Nishikori successfully defended his title by beating Pablo Andujar in the final in two sets to win his ninth career title on the tour.

At the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open, Nishikori was granted a first-round bye and proceeded by defeating David Goffin in three tough-sets in the second round.

Nishikori reached the semifinals after beating Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer in straight sets respectively.

Nishikori then lost to Andy Murray in the semifinals, and his ranking dropped to 6th as a result of failing to defend his points from the final in 2014.

Nishikori was given a tough draw at the 2015 Italian Open but managed to reach the quarterfinal after beating Jiri Vesely and Viktor Troicki, both in straight sets.

Nishikori faced world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the QF and lost in three sets.

Nishikori opened his French Open campaign by defeating both Paul-Henri Mathieu and Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets to advance to the third round.

Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open in 82 years by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili.

Nishikori then played home favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but eventually lost in five set.

Nishikori decided to play Wimbledon, and he reached the second round by beating Simone Bolelli in five sets for the second straight year but then withdrew from his second round match against Santiago Giraldo, due to his calf injury acting on him again during his first round match.

Nishikori opened his hard-court season by competing at the 2015 Citi Open defeating James Duckworth, Leonardo Mayer, Sam Groth, and Marin Cilic en route to the final where he beat John Isner in three tight sets to capture his third title of the year and 10th title overall.

Nishikori lost to Andy Murray in the semifinals in straight sets.

Nishikori withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters citing fatigue and hip injury, which affected his semifinal match against Murray the previous week.

Nishikori lost in the first round of the 2015 US Open to Benoit Paire.

Nishikori started the Asian Fall by participating in his hometown tournament, Rakuten Japan Open, where he reached the semifinals, including victories over Borna Coric, Sam Querrey and Marin Cilic.

Nishikori was upset in his semifinal match by unseeded Benoit Paire.

Nishikori reached third rounds of the Shanghai Rolex Masters before losing to Kevin Anderson.

Nishikori defeated Tomas Berdych, but lost to Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Nishikori failed to qualify for the semifinals, finishing in third place in his group.

Nishikori began with victories over Philipp Kohlschreiber, Austin Krajicek and Guillermo Garcia Lopez before beating ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach his third Australian Open quarterfinal, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

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Nishikori next competed at the Memphis Open where he was seeded first and was the three-time defending champion.

Nishikori received a bye into the second round and advanced to the semifinals without dropping a set.

Nishikori joined Jimmy Connors as the only four-time winners of the event.

Nishikori improved his feat by reaching the quarterfinal again in the Miami Open by beating Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Alexandr Dolgopolov and Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets.

Nishikori then reached the semifinals of the tournament for the second time in his career after saving five match points and beating Gael Monfils in a comeback three-set match.

Nishikori then reached his second final in a Masters 1000 after dismantling Nick Kyrgios in straight sets.

Nishikori lost to then world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the final in straight sets.

Nishikori reached the final without losing a set, but lost in straight sets to resurgent nine-time champion Rafael Nadal in the final.

Nishikori followed his good run by reaching the semifinals in the Mutua Madrid Open, beating Fabio Fognini, Richard Gasquet for the first time in 7 meetings and rising teenage star Nick Kyrgios.

Nishikori lost in the semifinal to Novak Djokovic in straight sets despite a close 2nd set.

Nishikori then replicated his Madrid run by reaching the semifinals of the Italian Open for the first time after beating Viktor Troicki in the opener in three sets, followed by wins over Richard Gasquet and Dominic Thiem in straight sets.

Nishikori later participated at the French Open but lost to an in-form Gasquet in the fourth round in 4 sets.

Nishikori began his grass season at the Halle Open, but retired in the 2nd round due to a hip injury.

Nishikori then participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he reached the semis before being defeated by World No 2 Andy Murray in straight sets.

Nishikori nearly replicated his 2014 US Open run by reaching the semifinals of the US Open, defeating Benjamin Becker, Karen Khachanov and Nicolas Mahut respectively in four sets, followed by a straight sets fourth-round win against Ivo Karlovic, and a 5-set victory over world No 2 Andy Murray in the quarterfinals that lasted nearly 4 hours; this was arguably his biggest victory since the 2014 US Open.

Nishikori enjoyed a successful tournament there, but lost to Marin Cilic in the finals.

Nishikori made his third successive appearance at the year-end championships after becoming the fifth player to qualify for the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals.

Nishikori began the year by reaching the finals of Brisbane, beating Wawrinka along the way, before falling to champion Grigor Dimitrov.

Nishikori's run ended in another five-set match to eventual champion Roger Federer.

Nishikori withdrew from the US Open in Cincinnati with a right wrist problem and subsequent scans revealed a tear in one of the tendons.

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Nishikori returned after a 5-month injury layoff and started his 2018 season by playing at the American challenger tour events.

Kei Nishikori went on to win his next four matches en route to win his sixth ATP Challenger career titles in Dallas, by defeating Mackenzie McDonald in the final.

Nishikori made his return to the ATP Tour competition at the inaugural ATP 250 Tournament in New York.

Nishikori made a back-to-back winning return in New York by defeating Noah Rubin and Evgeny Donskoy in the first and second round respectively.

Nishikori defeated Radu Albot in the quarterfinals in three sets, before losing to Kevin Anderson in the semifinal.

Kei Nishikori was unseeded at the 2018 Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco and lost against Denis Shapovalov in the first round.

Nishikori thus became the active player with the most Masters 1000 finals without a title.

Nishikori defeated Maxime Janvier, Benoit Paire, and Gilles Simon before falling to seventh seed Dominic Thiem in the fourth round.

Nishikori beat Christian Harrison and Bernard Tomic before upsetting Nick Kyrgios in the 3rd round.

Nishikori defeated Maximilian Marterer in straight sets in the first round, facing Gael Monfils in the second.

Nishikori then defeated 13th seed Diego Schwartzman and Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach his third quarterfinal at the US Open.

Nishikori defeated Peter Gojowczyk and Nikoloz Basilashvili before being upset by qualifier Matthias Bachinger in the semifinals in three sets.

Nishikori then participated in the Japan Open seeded third, defeating compatriot Yuichi Sugita in the first round, Benoit Paire in the second, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, and eighth seed Richard Gasquet in the semifinals.

At the Shanghai Masters, Nishikori was seeded eighth, defeating Wu Yibing and Sam Querrey to reach the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by top seed and defending champion Roger Federer.

Nishikori defeated Frances Tiafoe, Karen Khachanov, top seed Dominic Thiem, and Mikhail Kukushkin to reach his third final of the year, where he was defeated by second seed Kevin Anderson.

Nishikori defeated Adrian Mannarino before facing Kevin Anderson in the third round, this time defeating him in straight sets.

Nishikori was then defeated by third seed Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.

Nishikori was drawn in Group Lleyton Hewitt and faced second seed Roger Federer in his first match, defeating him in straight sets.

Nishikori was eliminated in the group stage after losing his next two matches against Kevin Anderson and Dominic Thiem.

Nishikori started his 2019 season at the Brisbane International, where he was seeded second.

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Nishikori defeated Denis Kudla, sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov, and Jeremy Chardy to reach the final, where he defeated fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in three sets to win the title.

Nishikori won 15 of the next 17 games, before Majchrzak retired down 3 games to none in the fifth set.

Nishikori dropped the first two sets before staging a major comeback, winning the third and fourth and leading by a break in the fifth before failing to serve out the match.

Nishikori defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Ernests Gulbis and Marton Fucsovics before he lost in the semifinals to Stan Wawrinka.

At the Monte-Carlo Masters, Nishikori was defending an appearance in the final, but lost to Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the second round.

Nishikori defeated Hugo Dellien before losing to Stan Wawrinka in the third round.

Nishikori defeated Quentin Halys and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before defeating Laslo Ðere and Benoit Paire in tight five-set matches in the third and fourth rounds, respectively.

Nishikori reached the fourth round without dropping a set, defeating Thiago Monteiro, Cameron Norrie, and Steve Johnson.

Nishikori dropped a set against Mikhail Kukushkin in the fourth round, but won the match in four, reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year.

Nishikori started his year playing in the 2021 ATP Cup, losing both of his singles matches to Daniil Medvedev and Diego Schwartzman.

At the Australian Open, Nishikori lost in the first round to Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets.

Nishikori made his first quarterfinal since Wimbledon 2019 in Rotterdam, after beating 7th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur.

Nishikori made the quarterfinals in Dubai, beating Reilly Opelka, 5th seed David Goffin and Aljaz Bedene.

Nishikori was seeded at an event for the first time since the 2019 US Open in Miami.

Nishikori reached the second round in Madrid, and the third round in Rome, losing both matches to Alexander Zverev.

At the Olympics, Nishikori recorded his first top 10 win since 2018 by beating Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the first round.

Nishikori beat Marcos Giron and Ilya Ivashka to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic.

Nishikori then participated in Washington, where he beat Sam Querrey and 9th seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets.

On January 25,2022 Kei Nishikori announced that he will be undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left hip and will be aiming to come back on tour in about six months.

Nishikori was 18 years and 104 days old, the youngest player to play for Japan.

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Nishikori played the singles rubber on the first day, but lost to Rohan Bopanna in five sets.

Nishikori then defeated Mahesh Bhupathi in a dead rubber to record his first Davis Cup match win.

Nishikori beat Peter Polansky and Frank Dancevic in the singles rubbers, and teamed up with Yasutaka Uchiyama for a victory in doubles over Dancevic and Daniel Nestor.

Japan advanced to the quarterfinals in the World Group for the first time, but Nishikori missed the quarterfinal against Czech Republic due to a left groin injury.

Nishikori represented Japan at his maiden Olympics in Beijing 2008.

Nishikori lost in the first round to Rainer Schuttler of Germany in three sets.

At the London 2012 Olympics, Nishikori competed in the singles and doubles competitions, partnering Go Soeda.

Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals since Takeichi Harada in the 1924 Paris Olympics.

Fresh from his Rogers Cup finals appearance in Toronto, Nishikori represented Japan at the Rio 2016 Olympics, where he was seeded fourth.

Nishikori recorded his first win against Wawrinka in the quarterfinals of the 2014 US Open in a thrilling five-set match; Nishikori later became the finalist of the tournament.

At Wimbledon in 2014 in the fourth round, Raonic scored his first win against Nishikori, beating him in four sets to advance to the quarterfinals.

From 2011 to 2013, they met four times, with Ferrer winning three times in straight sets and Nishikori winning only once in the 2012 Olympics in three sets.

Nishikori turned the tables in their head-to-head play in 2014, winning all four of their encounters.

In 2010, Nishikori avenged that loss at the US Open, beating Cilic in a tough five-setter lasting almost five hours.

In 2013, they met at the Memphis Open where Nishikori beat him in straight sets to progress to the SF and he would later go on to win the title.

However, Nishikori was defeated in straight sets by an in-form Marin Cilic in the final.

In 2015, the pair met in the semifinals of the 2015 Citi Open, with Nishikori coming back from a set down to prevail in three, and gain a place in his 15th career final.

In 2016, the duo met in the 4th round of the 2016 Wimbledon where Nishikori retired mid-match in the 2nd set after losing the first set due to a rib injury which had disrupted his grass season.

Nishikori has endorsed the Wilson Wilson Burn 95; however, it is believed by racquet enthusiasts that he used an older modified Wilson nCode nTour underneath the Steam paint job.

Nishikori wears Uniqlo clothing and as of the beginning of 2017 red Nike Vapor Tour shoes after having played for almost a decade in Adidas.

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Nishikori is sponsored by Nissin Foods, TAG Heuer, Fast Retailing, LVMH Moet Hennessy, Japanese financial services firm Jaccs Co.

Nishikori is often seen wearing a Cup Noodles badge on his sleeve during matches.

Nishikori can generate a lot of pace, especially on his flat backhand, while his Western forehand is accurate and consistent.

Many critics and fellow players have said that Nishikori's two handed backhand is one of the best on the tour, on par with that of Djokovic and Murray.

Under the coaching of Michael Chang, Nishikori has gained the habit of taking balls earlier without compromising consistency, reminiscent of Andre Agassi, allowing him to take time away from his opponents.

Nishikori has a slightly unusual style of hitting groundstrokes on both wings, winding up the racket with a short but compact backswing, and hitting the ball right at its peak.

Nishikori has been praised for his return of serves, which he executes well due to his ability to take them quickly.

Nishikori is known to hit winners off return of serves with strong and accurate groundstrokes.

Nishikori holds one of the highest percentages of deciding set wins in the open era.