The 27-year-old Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori is the third big name who chooses to end the season of 2017 prematurely. Struggling with injuries and low shape, 2014 US Open runner-up decided to skip the last Major tournament of the season as well as the rest of the competitive year.The other days he pulled out of Southern & Western Open in Cincinnati leaving the second Masters 1000 of the summer swing without seven top 10 players at its start. Currently ranked ninth in the world, Nishikori has had a poor season in terms of achievements. An extended break might be what he needs although there is no guarantee whatsoever that few months off the tennis court will do the trick.
For Federer and Nadal it worked quite well, and now we're witnessing the growth of this trend with so many big names sidelined for the rest of 2017.
Nishikori had a poor season in terms of achievement
In the light of this new update, it seems that Kei Nishikori will end the current season without winning an ATP title. Overall, he is 30-13 in win/ loss ratio while his best result in 2017 was reaching the quarterfinals at the French Open earlier this year in June. He went on losing in the last eight stages to Andy Murray at the end of a four sets encounter. When it comes to other Grand Slam events throughout the season, Nishikori performed below his standard. Back in January, he lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
He had the misfortune of dealing with Roger Federer that early in the contest. It was that 5 five sets encounter with Nishikori that put Federer in the favorites' box in Melbourne.
2017 Wimbledon saw Nishikori unable to reach the second week of the event as he went out at the end of the confrontation with Roberto Bautista-Agut.
Regarding the upcoming US Open, it's gonna be the first time since 2009 when Nishikori won't be in the main draw. New York has a special place for the Japanese as he made his initial breakthrough at Flushing Meadows back in 2008. Moreover, his best outcome on a Grand Slam remains that final from 2014 where he was a runner-up to Marin Cilic.
Last year, he reached the semis before losing to Stan Wawrinka, the eventual champion.
An open field where anything is possible
In less than two weeks, another US Open edition will start, and there is a good chance to have multiple surprises and unexpected winners along the way. So far, Djokovic, Wawrinka, and Nishikori are the ones 100% out. But, there may be more names missing from the draw as Murray, Cilic, Raonic and even Federer are dealing with some injuries lately. Given the circumstances, there might be a chance for Nadal or Zverev or why not an even low-ranked APT player.
