Having been sidelined from tennis since the fall of 2021, Kei Nishikori is wasting no time getting right back in the swing of things.
Nishikori, who won the first tournament of his comeback last month at the Palmas Del Mar Challenger, advanced to the Atlanta Open quarterfinals with a 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over Juncheng Shang on Thursday night. Playing an ATP-level event for the first time since the Indian Wells Masters 21 months ago, the 33-year-old battle through an entertaining second-round encounter after one hour and 37 minutes.
“It was a tough battle, but I was very excited on the court,” said Nishikori–clearly thrilled by the fact that he finally has a clean bill of health following yet another injury-related absence from the tour. “I felt pretty good, especially playing under [the lights]. I felt very good on the court today.
“I’m pretty happy with my level. I think I can do a couple things better, but I have to be happy because this is only the fourth tournament [since] coming back and first time playing [against top-100 opponents]. I have to give credit to me. It’s been a pretty good week and hopefully I can keep going.”
Next up for the former world No. 4 is top seed Taylor Fritz, who beat Yibing Wu 6-4, 7-6(5).
nice one, Kei