There's been so much talk lately around either Roger Federer or Nadal and the way they managed to revive their careers, but other top players also deserve a bit of attention. High-skilled players with huge damaging potential but who never discovered the winning recipe or once they got it, they were unable to keep it for a longer period of time.
Kei Nishikori, the world no. 5 and Japan's no. 1 for a while now, is one of those players to whom sky could be the limit, but they'll never get there, always bouncing around unable to store in what or when is needed.
Nishikori chose an early clay event
Following the 4th round loss at the Australian Open against Roger Federer, Nishikori somehow reoriented his path and moved to South American intermediate clay swing.
He was the no. 1 seeded player of Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, an ATP 250 event. Despite having some low caliber opponents, he struggled on his way to the final where he ran into Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. The 28-years-old Ukrainian outplayed the world no. 5 in straight sets clinching his 3rd ATP level title of the career.
Nishikori, one of the best defensive player on the professional circuit and a heavy baseline tennis player, could not find a way to disrupt Dolgopolov's pace. The opening set was pretty much in the balance, and it went to a tie-break where the Ukrainian maximized his serve and Nishikori hesitated.
With a 1-0 lead, Dolgopolov's level of confidence remained high as the 2nd set unfolded. Eventually, in the 7th game of the set, Nishikori lost his service game and from that point on it was only about the Ukrainian who eventually took the 2nd leg by 6-4.
Nishikori is wasting his talent
As years went by, Nishikori, now a 27-years-old player, has been wasting all that incredible talent that he definitely has.
His skill is amazing, and he might be the only player with a similar style as Djokovic has on the tennis court. But the Serb discovered a way to exploit that in his favor.
Given his age, the Japanese star has few years left in the suitcase to make a significant impact. When it comes to great achievements, timing and consistency are a must have for each one of those who yearns high.
