Nishikori Makes Successful Return To ATP Action In Atlanta

Kei Nishikori made a successful comeback to ATP Tour action on Tuesday with a tight straight-sets win at the Atlanta Open.

The former World No. 4 won his first tour-level match since October 2021 when he defeated Australian Jordan Thompson 7-6(5), 7-6(5) to reach the second round. He will next play sixth seed Ben Shelton or qualifier Shang Juncheng.

“Not [an] easy first round against Jordan. He’s very steady from the baseline. He doesn’t miss much and I have to be aggressive all the time,” Nishikori said in his on-court interview. “But I’m quite happy the way I played today. There were some moments that I should have stepped up a little more. But with these tough condition I’m happy to win in two sets.”

The 33-year-old returned on the ATP Challenger Tour last month and immediately won a title in Puerto Rico. In the first tour-level match of his comeback, Nishikori moved well in sweltering Atlanta conditions and saved all four break points he faced to claw through a gruelling baseline duel after two hours and 25 minutes.

“I played good, actually. I played a couple of Challengers before here and I didn’t play [for] almost two years,” Nishikori said. “It was a pretty good level, I think. And yeah, I just keep playing my best and hope I can stay later this week.”