MIAMI – Kei Nishikori has insisted he remains as motivated as ever, even as his return to the ATP Tour after a lengthy injury absence ended in a 6-3, 6-4 first-round loss to Sebastian Ofner at the Miami Open on March 21.
Due to his injuries, which included major hip surgery, the Japanese former world No. 4 has barely played in the past two years with his last appearance coming at Atlanta last July.
Given a wild card by organisers, the 2016 Miami finalist was expectedly a little off the pace against 40th-ranked Austrian Ofner as he struggled to replicate his practice form.
“I thought I was practising well, playing much better. I was feeling the rhythm and I was feeling the ball pretty good in practice, but during the match it’s completely different,” Nishikori said.
“It was windy. He was hitting the ball very hard, very quick, the courts are quick. I was having a tough time making a lot of balls in the court and just the little things that I was not making... maybe I was supposed to hit the corner, but the ball goes to the middle sometimes.
“But I never lose that motivation. It’s always there. For some reason I cannot explain, but the motivation is always there.”
At 34, world No. 351 Nishikori faces a real challenge to work his way back up the rankings. But he believes that in time, he can get back to an elite level.
“I don’t have the clear goal right now. I just want to play a lot of matches,” he added.
“I need some time to get used to (matches) and hopefully I can stay healthy. I think that’s the only goal this year – try to play as many matches as I can play.”
Returning at one of tennis’ biggest and most prestigious tournaments following a long injury layoff was always going present a challenge, but Nishikori might have liked his chances against Ofner, who had lost three consecutive matches and six of his last seven.
But there was simply too much rustiness in his game as he finished the contest without registering a single ace or converting any of his three break chances.
Gael Monfils, the 37-year-old Frenchman, did not have such problems as he turned on the style in his 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over Serbian Dusan Lajovic.
Like Nishikori, he said that “the fire is still there” despite his age.
In the WTA event, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki was a point away from winning in straight sets against Anhelina Kalinina but the Ukrainian ended up winning 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
Wozniacki, who returned to the tour in 2023 after a three-year absence to have children, reached the quarter-finals at Indian Wells last week.
Elena Rybakina suffered a scare against Denmark’s Clara Tauson before battling back to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. The fourth seed, who had wins in Brisbane and Abu Dhabi as well as a runner-up finish in Doha, had to miss Indian Wells due to illness and said she was still finding her way back to her best.
“I am happy with the win. It means a lot. I hadn’t really played for more than a week and it’s going to take time for me to get back to my best form but happy to get another chance,” said the Kazakh.
Greece’s Maria Sakkari, who lost to Iga Swiatek in the Indian Wells final, defeated China’s Yuan Yue 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round.
Sakkari had lost her opening match in Miami in each of the last two years but she overcame the in-form Yuan, who came into Miami after winning her first WTA singles title in Austin and then reaching her maiden WTA 1000 quarter-final at Indian Wells.
Ninth seed Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, had to work hard for a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over qualifier Laura Siegemund of Germany.
Victoria Azarenka, a three-time Miami Open winner, had to deal with some strong resistance from American Peyton Stearns before emerging with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win. AFP, REUTERS
