Kei Nishikori received Tuesday in his first ATP Tour occasion in two years, beating Jordan Thompson 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) within the Atlanta Open.
The 2014 U.S. Open runner-up from Japan hadn’t performed on tour since Indian Wells in October 2021. He then underwent hip surgical procedure in January 2022 and was out of motion for greater than 17 months.
He returned to competitors in June, profitable a Challenger Tour occasion in Puerto Rico.
“I am actually pleased the best way I performed at this time, as a result of I imply a performed a pair Challengers final couple of weeks, however at this time in opposition to Jordan it is a totally different degree than enjoying within the Challengers,” Nishikori stated, “and first sport I used to be like, ‘Oh, I’ve to play good at this time,’ and I did. I did fairly nicely at this time.”
Nishikori, 33, has fallen to No. 439 within the ATP Tour rankings. He reached No. 4 in 2015, shortly after his semifinal victory over Novak Djokovic on the U.S. Open made him the primary male Grand Slam singles finalist from Asia.
