Facing Kei Nishikori

By Scoop Malinowski

Kei Nishikori has announced he will retire at the conclusion of the 2026 season. The Japanese juggernaut has achieved an outstanding career, reaching no. 3 in the world, defeating Roger Federer three times, Rafal Nadal and Novak Djokovic and of course he reached the 2014 US Open final.

After arriving at age fourteen to train at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL – without being able to speak a world of English – the talented dynamo managed to excel on the tennis court. In 2006 Kei won the French Open boys doubles title with Emiliano Massa of Argentina. He turned pro in 2007 and was a hitting partner of Roger Federer at 2007 Wimbledon. Kei’s first big win came at Delray Beach 2008 where he won the title as a qualifier ranked 244 in the world. He beat James Blake in a three set thriller in the final. It was the first time a Japanese man won an ATP title in sixteen years.

During his near two decades long professional career, Kei won 451 matches and 12 titles and over $26m in prize money. At the 2016 Olympic Games Kei defeated Rafael Nadal to win the bronze medal. Noted for his ability to prevail in five set matches, Kei achieved a 29-8 record in five set duels, the third highest win percentage in the Open Era for matches extending to five sets.

This feature is a tribute to a fine sportsman champion who always represented the sport with class and honor, and although he never quite reached the top of the tennis mountain, he came very close in the most challenging era in tennis history …

Byron Smith: We live in the same neighborhood in Sarasota, FL. I sometimes see him when I walk my dog and he’s walking his. We talk a little. I saw him yesterday. No conversation. He’s shy.

Ken Howard: I have a UPS Store on 41 near downtown Sarasota. Kei came in a few times to mail some things. He’s not very talkative, he’s actually pretty shy. Marcelo Rios also came in to get something for his daughter. I actually had more friendlier interaction with Marcelo than Kei.

Mitchell Krueger: I played him twice. On hard court in his first tournament back at a Challenger in Puerto Rico two or three years ago. He was obviously still getting his legs underneath him. Then I played him last year on clay. One of the few matches when I felt like I got beat straight up beat off the court. Didn’t feel like I did much wrong, he just took it to me. What he does really well is making you feel pressure. His footwork is phenomenal. His technique, his timing are great. So he can take time away from you and make you feel rushed and affect your decision making. Especially on the clay too. He moves so well, so he can exploit that also. You don’t get to the finals of a Grand Slam and top five without being a fierce competitor also. All those qualities made him into the player he is.
Question: Lasting memory?
Krueger: I remember the first title he ever won was in Delray Beach 2008 at age eighteen. I remember being a ballboy at the Dallas Challenger two weeks before. He was eighteen, I was fourteen. You kind of heard the hype about him as a young guy. There wasn’t a lot of young guys at that time. He definitely was one of those first guys. Seeing him win Delray and taking off from there is a lasting memory of Kei.

Nicholas Kicker: Last night I played with Kei (at Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open) for me it’s an honor. He was a no. 3 (4) in the world. Amazing player. Now he’s at this level (ATP Challengers). But he’s an amazing player.
Question: Any surprises about his game?
Kicker: Yes. Some points he played unbelievable. 63 62 he killed me [laughs]. I think for him the best shot is his backhand. Cross. When I go full line and he doesnt go back, he stays on the baseline every time. He’s pretty difficult to play with. He takes the ball so early.
Question: Ever hit with Kei before?
Kicker: I trained with him one time at Roland Garros, practice with him 2018 I think it was. It was different clay. There was more quick surface, faster. The balls dont bounce higher. He is more lower. It was really difficult for me to play with him because he plays so unbelievable.
Question: Lasting memory of Kei?
Kicker: When he lost the final of US Open, he lost to Cilic. He play really good. He beat Djokovic there. Amazing player.

Yibing Wu: Of course it’s going to be tough to play Kei on all different surfaces or different weather conditions. And today so windy I think we both have to stay really patient. I think he’s trying to be aggressive, me at same time also. I think I’m more patient in the end a little bit. Try and stay in rally a little bit more, looking for the right balls to attack.
Question: Lasting memory of Kei?
Wu: Of course, I’ve been watching him. His videos growing up, the year he made final of US Open, he also won Tokyo many times. Also Barcelona a few times. I think he has really big impact for Asian boys growing up. I’m one of them for sure.

Dante Bottini: Oh man, there’s so many memories with Kei. There are so many (coached him from 2010-2019). But if I gotta pick one it’s gotta be when he made final at US Open (2014) or when he won his first tournament in Japan. That was big, that was big. The US Open was insane. Because he won a few matches in the fifth set [chuckles]. Against Raonic, against Wawrinka, 6-4 in the fifth. Four hours matches late at two o’clock in the morning. Then beating Djokovic in the semifinal, it was an amazing ride. And also a funny story. We were practicing on this court (at IMG Academy) with a boot. Because we were not going to go to this tournament. Because he was sitting on a chair hitting. We were not going to go to the tournament.
He had an emergency with his foot. And finally we go on a Saturday, just before it started. He had a first match against Odesnik, he won fairly easy in three sets. The day after that he start feeling good. He beat Mayer in three sets. He still feels good. Then everything went up to him. So that was a crazy, crazy tournament for him. For all of us.
Question: What is the best you ever saw Kei play?
Bottini: If I gotta pick one it would be the final against Rafa in Madrid. Before he got injured. He was really, really playing, flying on the court. He was beating Rafa 62 31 on center court in Madrid. He was FLYING. He was playing like ping pong tennis until he got injured there and he retired in third set. That was one of the best matches for me. I almost cried that day because he could have beaten Rafa in Madrid Master 1000 that he never did. We were always so close. He was playing so good.

Rafael Nadal: Kei is an unbelievable player. Kei promised a lot of things, promised a lot when he was very young. He has had a couple injuries. Whenever you suffer injuries everything is really complicated. He’s within the best. To be no. 1 he has to show if he’s capable of playing with high regularity all year and being able to win on all surfaces. To be no. 1 today it’s quite expensive. There are some players that play few matches, and to be no. 1, you cannot commit any errors. You have to commit very few errors, and the correct place. If not, it’s really tough.
He did fantastic things. He was playing at his best level of his career in 2014, and that was great. I am really happy for him. It’s good to have a player like him on the Tour.

Petru Coton: I hit with Kei three times (at IMG). He’s so humble, nice, regular guy. He talked with me like I’m a friend. I asked him, What will it take for me to get to your leve because I want to go pro? He said it’s really important to take care of your body. There’s a lot of talented players that don’t make it because their bodies physically break down. Also he said, When you finish each day, to feel as if you did your very best that day. Because if you don’t, you’ll wonder if you didn’t reach your best because you don’t work hard enough.
Question: Any surprises about his shots?
Coton: The spin of his ball is so different. The ball looks flat but it’s so heavy. I have to prepare my racquet like an instant quicker to handle his balls. His shots have a lot of action. I hit with the girls, with Peyton Stearns a lot. She’s really nice. The other girls can’t handle my ball. Two or three shots down the middle and they hit it in the fence.

Novak Djokovic: I think he wasn’t using forehand as well as he does now. His backhand is very solid. One of the best double-handed backhands from all over the court. Really aggressive. He’s very quick, so he gets a lot of balls back. Uses every short ball to attack. I think now he’s all-around player.

Samin Filiz: We hit at IMG. His backhand slice is so good! It lands like two inches from the baseline. It’s insane!

Richard Dzirkals: Kei’s really nice. I never hit with him. But I was in the trainer’s room with him a few times. He’s nice to talk with. He talks with you like a regular person though he’s such a superstar. He’s a normal guy. One time he had to wait for me to get finished with the trainer’s table. He had to wait for me and it didn’t bother him at all.

Lani Chang: So many years of watching him compete on the biggest stages has taught me so much, and having the privilege of growing up seeing what Tour life was like was truly unforgettable. No words can describe how grateful I am to have been a little girl who was inspired to play professional tennis from his player box. Kei was an exceptional player on the court, but such a genuine person off of it. From never missing a birthday, to hitting with me, playing with me when I was little, joking around, and always being there for me — he made such a lasting impact on my life. I’ll always be grateful for his kindness, support, and the memories we share. Thanks for being a huge inspiration for so many people, especially me.

Red Ayme: I remember when Kei first came here when he was 12 or 13. Mr. Morita sponsored him, then he had to reach all the goals set by Mr. Morita. Kei will hit with anybody, any Japanese kid we bring to him he will hit with. He’s always good like that. He’s always been here. Over 20 years now.

Roger Federer: I think Kei does really well controlling the ball. He has great technique, especially on the backhand, very simple, very short back swings, so he does a really nice job of having good timing. Then the forehand can be sometimes a bit off, but I think he does a good job with his feet. He’s a quick mover. Same with the his serve. I think he’s done a good job using that to his advantage.
I remember his very difficult match with Ferrer (Miami Open 2014), a great one which everybody watched in the locker room and the player restaurant. It was one of those thrilling end to the matches, into the tiebreaker with match points saved. It had the whole drama. Either one could have won, but in tennis always one guy’s got to win. Kei did a good job getting it done at the end.
I practiced with him many times, so we know each other well so there are no real secrets out there.
I first practiced with him in 2007. I thought he was a very good player. I’m not even sure what it is (that he improved so much). It’s getting used to playing top guys and used to traveling the world every single week, being strong mentally and physically. Just handling all the stress that surrounds playing tennis. Because playing free tennis when you’re a junior to going to becoming a pro – it’s a bit of a change. Some prefer it and some think it’s really difficult. I think Kei had good balance

Margie Zesinger (IMG Women’s Tennis Director): Kei is such a nice person. The best. He’s so humble. He helps the kids. One day one of the Japanese girls was having a bad practice and she was crying on the court. Kei saw her and came over to help her and coach her. He’s helped a lot of kids. They were like numbed that he came over to help them. He’s such a good mentor for kids. He’s always willing to help the Japanese kids.

Martin Damm Jr: Of course I have (hit with Kei) many times. Tons of times, 30-40 times. Obviously I’ve looked up to him in a lot of big matches that he’s played. I was fortunate to play some of the Grand Slams with him when I was a junior when he was going pretty far in them especially when he’s healthy. This Challenger (Sarasota) is not where he thought he would be right now. Now that he’s playing a professional tournament at home is super nice.
One memory that stands out, if I’m not mistaken, he made quarterfinal of French Open in 2019. I remember he won round of 16 in five sets (vs. Paire) and I met him in the locker room and he was completely exhausted but he went out of his way to say hi to me and congratulate me on my match so that was very nice of him.
Question: Anything surprise you being on court with Kei?
Damm Jr: From these guys you can always learn something. He hits the ball very early very clean. He moves super well. And even though he’s a small guy and doesn’t necessarily really have firepower weapons, his weapons are his legs, hitting the ball early and opening up the court nicely. I always try to learn something from him every single time.

Teodor Davidov: It was pretty interesting to hit with someone who’s been an incredible player and who’s got so far on the Tour. It was the first time that I got the experience of playing with a very, very legendary player. One of the IMG coaches asked if I could hit with him. It was a cool experience to play with him and get to know him a little bit. We didn’t have like a full on practice. It was more of a warm up. We just hit for like 30 minutes approximately. We did the normal, cross courts, volleys, serves, returns
Question: Any chit chat?
Davidov: A little bit, not too much. He had his family there so (it was a Sunday afternoon before Sarasota Open started). Not too much but a little bit.
Question: Any surprises about the hit?
Davidov: Sometimes we would rally regular pace. Then sometimes he would accelerate the ball really fast. You could tell that he’s been a really good player. It was good. He wasn’t going full on. It wasn’t that serious. It wasn’t going corner to corner, hitting the ball as hard as he can. But it was still a fun hit.

Richard Pagliaro: Lasting memory of Kei… Probably the win over Novak in 2014 US Open semifinal – the only time I saw anyone beat Novak on a hard court repeatedly in backhand exchanges AND beat him repeatedly hitting backhand winners down the line. Just insane backhand control and he was taking it early. He was one of a select few – Novak, Agassi, Nalbandian, Coria – who could seemingly hold the ball on the strings of the two-hander and then put it anywhere they wanted. Also, despite his size, Special Kei was NOT a grinder – he was a shotmaker. See his win over Rafa in Olympics. Lastly, he was just so mild, mellow unassuming and quiet off court yet his game could be very flashy.

The other thing was he had the signature moves on court, like rapping his racquet against the back of his legs when he felt tired or anxious, spinning his racquet in hand before returning, the way he pulled down the baseball cap, like a baseball relief pitcher would, before a point. Lastly, when I first saw him on that run to Delray Beach final when he surprised James Blake in final, he often would leap into his forehand. He actually cleaned that up and really minimized the flying forehand and I think that more stable foundation from his legs actually made his forehand better as he matured.

Also, that he was such a superstar in Japan, yet would take time out at tournaments to go out to dinner with fellow Japanese players, including Osaka and other Japanese WTA players, and just hang out, talk. A very quiet guy, but now as we know, there was a lot going on beneath that placid surface both tennis-wise, injury-wise, relationship-wise, etc.

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