Tennis Star Kei Nishikori Announces Retirement, Once Reached World No. 4, Setting Japanese Record

Central News Agency

(Central News Agency Tokyo 1st comprehensive foreign report) Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori announced today on social media that he will hang up his racket this season. He won the men's singles runner-up at the 2014 US Open and jumped to world No. 4 the following year, becoming the first Japanese man to enter the men's singles top 10 in the world rankings.

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and Nippon TV (Japan Television Network) reported that Kei Nishikori is currently 36 years old. He left Japan at the age of 14 to train in the United States and was active in international competitions during his youth.

One of the highlights of his professional career was undoubtedly defeating then-world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and other top players at the 2014 US Open to advance to the finals, though he ultimately lost to Marin Cilic and finished as runner-up.

Nishikori became the first Japanese player to break into the top 10 in 2014, and then surged to a career-best world ranking of No. 4 in 2015.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he defeated Spain's "King of Clay" Rafael Nadal, one of the then-"Big Four," to win a bronze medal.

Nishikori reached at least the quarterfinals in all four Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open), and his best performance at the ATP Finals was reaching the semifinals.

However, he has been plagued by recurring injuries in recent years, including knee and shoulder problems. Last year, he only reached the second round of the Australian Open, one of the Grand Slams, and did not achieve significant results in the other three Grand Slams, causing his latest world ranking to drop below 400.

Kei Nishikori posted on the social media platform X today, stating, "I have been passionate about tennis since I was a child, and I pursued my dream with the thought of 'wanting to compete on the world stage.' In this process, I reached the top stage and climbed to the world's top 10, which is a great source of pride for me."

He continued, "In the days of constantly pushing my limits, the joy of victory, the regret of defeat, and that special atmosphere felt in front of a full crowd are irreplaceable memories."

Facing a series of injuries, Nishikori candidly said, "There were times when I felt frustrated because I couldn't perform as I wished, and I was almost suffocated by anxiety."

"Even so, the belief that 'I love tennis' and 'I can still become stronger' became my motivation to return to the court."

He believes this process "enriched my life and made me who I am today."

At the same time, he also sincerely thanked his fans and his family who have always supported him.

Kei Nishikori stated, "To be honest, I still want to compete on the court, but looking back at everything so far, I can confidently say, 'I have given my all.'" (Compiled by Yang Wei-Jing) 1150501

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