Toughing It Out: Nishikori Returns to Scene of Triumph

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.—Kei Nishikori sits placidly in a straight-back chair, his hands clasped together, fingers gently intertwined, dark hair spiking skyward, a confident smile creeping across his still-baby face. The Japanese cameraman has been peppering Nishikori with questions and the 21-year-old is politely doing his best to oblige with cogent answers. But for Nishikori, explaining the last three years since his breakout performance and first ATP tour title at the International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach is about as easy as translating his innermost thoughts from Japanese to English.

“It was really tough,” Nishikori later reiterates several times when asked to describe his forced eight-month hiatus from the game due to a right elbow injury. “My ranking was going up, up. I was 56, and then I got the injury. I had MRIs in New York and Japan and they couldn’t see anything. It take so much time to decide to have the surgery. Mentally I was really down and tired. It was a really tough decision for me.”

Nishikori seems both relaxed and relieved to be back in Delray, where, after losing in the first round last year, he has now reached the semifinals with wins over Brian Dabul, James Blake—runner-up here in 2007 and 2008 but a wild card this year due to his No. 144 ranking—and Ryan Sweeting. Should Nishikori go on to win the tournament, his ranking would rise to within the world’s Top 50.

It seems a career ago when Nishikori, then just 18 years old, qualified in just his sixth ATP event in Delray Beach and then stunned four Americans—Amer Delic, Bobby Reynolds, third-seeded Sam Querrey (saving four match points in the process) and No. 1 Blake—to win the ITC Championship, becoming the youngest man to win an ATP title since then-16-year-old Lleyton Hewitt captured Adelaide 10 years earlier. He was also the first Japanese man to win a tour event since Shuzo Matsuoka was victorious in Seoul in 1992.

(Matsuoka is perhaps better known for inspiring the tour’s “cramping rule” that allows for players to be tended to on-court without defaulting for a physical loss of condition. He reluctantly forfeited a first-round U.S. Open match against Czech Petr Korda on the Grandstand in 1995 while writhing on the court in pain.)

Within five months of winning in Delray in 2008, Nishikori reached the round of 16 at the U.S. Open, capturing the hearts and imagination of the discerning New York fans with his five-set win over fourth-seeded David Ferrer. Though he fell in the fourth round to Juan Martin del Potro, Nishikori had made his entrance onto one of the biggest stages in tennis. Then, after struggling through the first three months of 2009, he was out for the rest of the season, back home in Japan, re-learning to bend his arm and doing post-surgery rehab every day for two months.

“It says a lot about him and his tennis that he is only 21 years old and he has been able to come back from a big injury,” says Nishikori’s coach, Dante Bottini, who works with him fulltime through the IMG/Bollettieri Tennis Academy. Nishikori also recently signed on former top tenner Brad Gilbert, who he met when he roomed with his son, Zack, for 10-15 weeks a year. “But he is still young and has a lot to learn. I love his backhand but right now we are working especially on his serve and his defense.”

Nishikori was just 14 when he left his home in Shimane, Japan, for tennis’ most famed sweatshop in Bradenton, Florida. According to Nishikori, the only thing the “small city” of Shimane is known for is its proximity to Hiroshima, site of the U.S.’ launching of the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. As luck would have, Shimane also boasted a tennis court just five minutes from the home Nishikori shared with his mother, Eri, a piano teacher; father, Kiyoshi, an engineer; and older sister, Reina.

As the youngster’s tennis improved he quickly outgrew his local sparring partners. Then, thanks to a grant from Sony CEO Masaaki Morita, Nishikori and a few fellow select Japanese juniors were sent to train at IMG’s Bollettieri academy.

“It was hard,” says Nishikori of the adjustment to the U.S. and the academy existence. “But because I came with three other friends and one Japanese coach was with me all the time; it wasn’t, like, horrible. But I was still struggling to make friends and learn English.

“But I was really enjoying the tennis, Nishikori adds. “It was fun to play with good guys, strong players and have good weather all the time.”

“It wasn’t as tough for Kei because everyone knew him there and he was with IMG and his agent was there,” says Gastao Elia, who roomed with Nishikori in the academy dorms for a year before Nishikori went off-campus into housing of his own. “Everyone knew who he was and had a lot of respect for him. He didn’t play that many junior tournaments (though he did win the French Open junior doubles in 2006 with Argentine Emiliano Massa and ranked No. 7 in the ITF singles rankings) because he moved up to the pros pretty quickly. He was really fast, had good technique and you could see that he had a lot of potential.

“But he was also very reserved and very quiet,” adds Elia. “Other than tennis, he stayed in the room a lot, talking to his friends on the computer or watching Japanese cartoons. He wasn’t the kid of guy who would ever get in trouble. He’s very Asian, reserved and respectful. He doesn’t share that much of his life.”

One thing that Nishikori has shared is Project 45, the name for his goal of surpassing Matsuoka’s career high ranking of No. 46 in 1992—the highest ever for a Japanese male. While Japanese women—including 40-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm—have achieved relative success at the professional level, Japanese men have struggled. Nishikori is hoping to change that. And now that he has faced adversity at such a young age, Nishikori believes he is better prepared for the future.

“I learned so many things when I was injured,” he says. “I have to take care of my body more, start with little things like stretching and massage. But right now I’m just enjoying playing tennis and playing well.

“Of course, my goal is No. 1,” Nishikori adds when asked what he dreams of. Then, with a playful smile, he throws in, “And my favorite tournament is the French Open. I have good memories there. Yeah, I hope I can win the French Open.”