Kei Nishikori: I Don’t Have A Clear Goal Right Now

After missing seven months due to a left knee injury, Kei Nishikori returned yesterday at the Miami Masters but lost in straight sets to Sebastian Ofner.

Now 34 and still plagued by injuries — he underwent hip surgery at the start of 2023 — Nishikori hopes to resurrect his career.

“It’s funny to me, but I never lose that motivation” Nishikori said. “It’s always there. Some reason I cannot explain, but some reason motivation is always there.

“I don’t have the clear goal right now. You know, I just want to play a lot of matches. Today, I mean, I was almost enjoying the match, but it wasn’t good enough to beat those top, you know, 50 players. But I think I’m happy enough, you know, how I played today. Maybe not the best, but I still have, you know, good desire. Yeah, I’m looking forward to play couple more tournaments.”

The former Top 5 talent understands his body is the issue. Last year he played just three events after returning from the hip in June, then the knee got him at Atlanta.

“For me, physical is the most toughest thing. I almost came back summer of last year, and I played six, seven matches. My body got hurt again,” he said.

“Just, for me, it’s tough to keep up my body. Schedule-wise, I have to be really smart how I play. Yes, I think example today, I think he took all the important points but I didn’t, and I had two loose game, one break each, and I lost easy, 6-4, 6-3,” he added.

“So I just need to play good in certain moment, and yeah, I just need to play more matches to get my feeling back.”

A little less than 10 years ago Nishikori made the finals at the US Open. His last Slam appearance was at the 2021 US Open.

Nishikori hopes to play in Houston, Barcelona and then the Madrid Masters.