Kei Nishikori makes painful admission regarding his recent bad luck

11/01/2023 04:10 AM

Kei Nishikori admits he was deeply hurt by his recent bad luck as it was "really painful" for the Japanese to miss his beloved US Open and Tokyo. Nishikori, 33, was sidelined for 20 months before finally making his long-awaited comeback in June at a Challenger tournament. Four tournaments into his comeback, Nishikori suffered a knee injury at the Atlanta Open in late July. "In June I came back for the first time in a while and played in a few events, started feeling better. Then my knee started getting worse, and here I am. I had to withdraw from all the event, the US Open that I was really looking forward to playing the Japan Open, and Challengers in Japan, that's really painful. This is a matter of my own body, I know I can't make an excuse, but still these days I feel like 'Hey why couldn't you allow me to play matches, it's enough, it's about time," Nishikori said.

Japan Open, and Challengers in Japan, that's really painful. This is the matter of my own body, I know I can't make an excuse, but still these days I feel like "hey why couldn't you allow me to play matches, it's enough, it's about time".

— 井蛙堂 (@seiadoumogera) October 31, 2023

Missing a couple of really special tournaments definitely hurt Nishikori but the 2014 US Open runner-up still hasn't given up on playing again in 2023. Between November 5-12, the Matsuyama Challenger will be taking place in Japan. The week after, the Kobe Challenger is scheduled to take place. Nishikori remains hopeful that at least he will be able to compete in Matsuyama and Kobe. "What I have to do remains the same, I go to the gym on a daily basis telling myself that I'm gonna be fine one day. These days I can't still move (freely on the court) but keep playing tennis, so I hope I'm almost there. It all depends on my body that doesn't seem to be getting better, I'm gonna put up with it and work hard a little bit more. I'm sorry for those who looked forward to watching me playing Matsuyama and Kobe Challengers. I've not given up (playing in Japan), will try hard to play remaining two Challengers (Yokohama & Yokkaichi). If I can't play these tournaments, I'll try my best to be ready for the Australian Open. Believing all these days will help me to improve," Nishikori said. It remains to be seen if Nishikori will be able to play at least one more time before the 2023 season ends.