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Kei Nishikori is back and still dreaming after coming close to retirement

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MELBOURNE – Kei Nishikori admitted Sunday that a year ago he thought about quitting professional tennis. He did so at the press conference following his five-set comeback against Thiago Monteiro in the first round of the Australian Open. Two opposite realities, which perfectly demonstrate the past and present of the former world number four.

‘I was close last year because I was coming off knee and shoulder injuries and I got hurt again. It was like being up and down. Then I thought maybe with another surgery I wasn’t going to be able to fight mentally anymore. The most difficult moment was at the end of 2023,’ said the 2014 US Open finalist.

Those thoughts and feelings seem to be behind him with the arrival of 2025. In Hong Kong a week ago, the Japanese returned to the Top 100 for the first time since June 2022 and played his first ATP title since Brisbane 2019. Season that was also marked as the last in which he had won a match at the Australian Open.

The ‘Melbournian’ jinx was broken with his five-set win over the 105th ranked player on the planet, a hallmark of the 12-time ATP champion. With Sunday’s win, Nishikori has now won eight of nine matches in the deciding set at Grand Slams. A bad habit that even generates noise in the corridors.

‘Everyone tells me that. Even after the match a couple of players joked with me for winning again in five sets. It’s a good thing because it gives confidence and the players know I have that good record. Maybe five or seven years ago I started to realise this,’ he said.

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However, he admits that the record also has a flip side: ‘It’s something I have to work on, it’s not a good habit,’ he said with a chuckle about his luck with the fifth set.

If he can claim yet another win in a deciding set, he will claim the second best percentage among Open Era players with a minimum of 10 five-set matches. He will be behind only Carlos Alcaraz and his 12-1 record.

For Nishikori, however, the goal of why he should keep playing is not about records. He just wants to get back to his old self: ‘I want to keep playing in big stadiums like today, that was my goal when I was recovering. I think I still have a chance to play against top players. I’m really enjoying this moment, playing these matches.

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