Kei Nishikori postpones comeback yet again

Former top-5 player Kei Nishikori postponed his return to action but stated that he would make his comeback at a Challenger tournament in Puerto Rico next month. The Japanese last featured during the 2021 Indian Wells Masters where he reached the second round before losing 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Dan Evans.

Nishikori underwent hip surgery in January 2022 and has since been recovering with the aim of making a return to the ATP Tour. He tweeted a couple of weeks back that he would make his comeback by competing in three tournaments on the ATP Challenger Tour, namely the Little Rock Challenger, the Tyler Tennis Championships, and the Caribbean Open at Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico.

Nishikori gave a recent update on his comeback situation, claiming that his goal was to compete at the Palmas del Mar Challenger in Puerto Rico as the other two tournaments were coming too fast for him.

"Little update. My training is going well. I am increasing my hitting both in timing and intensity. I have decided with my team however that the Little Rock and Tyler challengers are coming too fast and I will have to cancel them. The goal is to start in Palmas del Mar," Nishikori's tweet read.

---

Kei Nishikori claimed he thought of retiring due to prolonged absence from the ATP Tour

Kei Nishikori at the 2021 Indian Wells Masters

Kei Nishikori said a few months back during the 'UNIQLO LifeWear Day Tokyo 2022 with Roger Federer' event that he was depressed due to his prolonged absence from professional tennis and even thought of retiring.

"I have been very depressed in the last few months, I even thought about retiring. From July to September I was in rehabilitation at home. It's three months when I can't play tennis, I can't even take a racket. Mentally, it's very complicated. Of course, I've been on the verge of retirement," Nishikori said.

The Japanese claimed that he intended to prolong his career after meeting Roger Federer during the event.

When I saw Roger, I finally thought that I can continue playing tennis over 30 years of age," Kei Nishikori said.

The Japanese last featured during the 2021 season, winning 26 out of 43 matches, with his longest run at a tournament being reaching the semifinals of the Citi Open in Washington. He also made it to the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics, the Dubai Tennis Championships, and the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.