Kei Nishikori

Kei Nishikori (錦織 圭) is a Japanese professional tennis player.

He is the second male Japanese player to have been ranked in the top five in singles (after Jiro Sato), and the only one to do so in the Open Era.

He first won the All Japan Tennis Championships for Kids in 2001, and graduated from Aomori-Yamada High School.

Nishikori played his first junior match in April 2002 at the age of 13 at a grade 1 tournament in Japan.

Nishikori moved to Bradenton, Florida to join the IMG Academy in 2004 at 14 years of age.

Nishikori was previously coached by Brad Gilbert.

He won the 2004 title at the Riad 21 Tournament in Rabat, Morocco, and was a boys' singles quarter-finalist at the 2006 Junior French Open; he partnering Emiliano Massa to win the boys' doubles title at that tournament.

Wimbledon: 1R (2005)

US Open: 3R (2005)

Junior Grand Slam results – Doubles:

US Open: 1R (2005)

Nishikori began the year in March with a wildcard entry to the Kyoto Challenger tournament in Kyoto, Japan, where he lost to Australian Robert Smeets in the round of 32 and just failed to qualify for the doubles tournament.

In May, Nishikori qualified for the ITF Futures event in Mazatlán, Mexico, where he was victorious in the men's singles.

A finalist in two USTA Pro Circuit events, Nishikori lost to Donald Young in Little Rock, Arkansas and Alex Bogomolov Jr.. in Carson, California.

He partnered with Young to win the doubles title at Little Rock.

At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Nishikori paired with triple French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, but the two were defeated in the first round.

Nishikori served as a hitting partner for Roger Federer at Wimbledon.

After his ATP main draw debut in Los Angeles, Nishikori qualified for the Indianapolis Tennis Championships in July.

As a junior, he compiled a 73–37 win–loss record in singles and 53–31 in doubles, achieving a combined ranking of No. 7 in the world in July 2006.

Junior Grand Slam results – Singles:

Australian Open: QF (2006)

French Open: QF (2006)

Australian Open: SF (2006)

French Open: W (2006)

Wimbledon: A (-)

Nishikori won the 2007 Luxilon Cup held at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open by defeating Michael McClune.

Dante Bottini has been his current coach since December 2010.

Nishikori has won six ATP Tour 500 titles, six ATP Tour 250 titles and was runner-up at the 2014 US Open, making him the first man representing an Asian country to reach a major singles final.

He also became the first man from Asia to qualify for the ATP Finals, and reached the semifinals in 2014 and 2016.

Former world No. 2 Michael Chang was added to his coaching team beginning in January 2014.

Nishikori first reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015.

In addition, Nishikori defeated Rafael Nadal to win the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, bringing Japan its first Olympic tennis medal in 96 years.

He holds the record for the highest win percentage in matches extending to five sets, with a record of 27–7 and a win percentage of 79.4%.

Nishikori was born in Matsue in Shimane Prefecture, Japan.

His father, Kiyoshi, is an engineer, and his mother, Eri, is a piano teacher.

He has an older sister, Reina, who graduated from college and works in Tokyo.

He began playing tennis at the age of five.

Nishikori married his long-term girlfriend Mai Yamauchi in December 2020.

His pastimes include football, golf, reading, and listening to music.

In August 2020, having not played since the 2019 US Open due to injury and the coronavirus pandemic, Nishikori tested positive for COVID-19.