{"id":77479,"date":"2025-01-06T08:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T13:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=77479"},"modified":"2025-01-06T08:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T13:49:15","slug":"kei-nishikori-shows-tremendous-rise-with-brilliant-hong-kong-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/01\/06\/kei-nishikori-shows-tremendous-rise-with-brilliant-hong-kong-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Kei Nishikori Shows Tremendous Rise with Brilliant Hong Kong Run"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japan’s Kei Nishikori<\/a> has admitted he didn\u2019t know if he would make a return to the top of the men\u2019s game after a series of injury concerns. Still, he has taken a big leap forward in the ATP Rankings after his impressive run at the Bank of China Hong Kong Open. After China\u2019s Shang Juncheng was forced to withdraw from their semifinal clash, the Japanese tennis star advanced to his first ATP Tour final in six years. This remarkable feat marks a significant milestone in his career, proving his resilience and determination. The 35-year-old played in his 27th Tour-level final and officially re-entered the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since June 2022.<\/p>\n

At 35, Nishikori’s performance in Hong Kong is a welcome boost for the former World No. 4, who was a runner-up at the 2014 US Open<\/a>. After missing the entire 2022 season following hip surgery, Nishikori faced additional setbacks<\/a> with ankle, elbow, knee, and shoulder injuries. These recurring fitness issues made him question whether he would return to his best form. However, the 2014 US Open finalist has started 2025 on a high note, and his recent success will open doors to higher-profile tournaments in the coming months, provided he remains injury-free. In an interview with the ATP Tour website last year, the Japanese reflected on his struggles and the physical and emotional challenges he endured to prolong his career.<\/p>\n

In the final of the Hong Kong Open, Nishikori came up short against France’s Alexandre Muller, who secured his first ATP Tour title with a 2-6 6-1 6-3 victory. Despite Nishikori’s impressive start, where he raced through the first set in just 33 minutes, he ultimately ran out of steam, concluding the match in 1 hour and 43 minutes. This marked Nishikori’s 27th Tour-level final and his first since his triumph in Brisbane in 2019.<\/p>\n

Nishikori\u2019s path to the final was nothing short of inspiring. Entering the tournament as a wild card, he defeated notable players, including third-seeded Karen Khachanov, former Top 10 player Cameron Norrie, and Denis Shapovalov<\/a>. His ability to overcome such strong opponents showcased not only his technical brilliance but also his mental toughness.<\/p>\n

With his return to the Top 100 confirmed (ranked No.74), Nishikori has proven that age and injuries are no match for his passion and determination.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Japan’s Kei Nishikori has admitted he didn\u2019t know if he would make a return to the top of the men\u2019s game after a series of injury concerns. Still, he has taken a big leap forward in the ATP Rankings after his impressive run at the Bank of China Hong Kong Open. After China\u2019s Shang Juncheng […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5286,"featured_media":58420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[13556,1688,776,17300,844,146],"class_list":["post-77479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atp","category-featured","tag-alexandre-muller","tag-cameron-norrie","tag-denis-shapovalov","tag-juncheng-shang","tag-karen-khachanov","tag-kei-nishikori"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77479"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77494,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77479\/revisions\/77494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}