Nishikori: 'I still have the same passion'

Kei Nishikori is determined to make up for lost time.

It's well documented that the former world No.4 has endured countless setbacks amongst injuries and subsequent surgeries in the past few seasons.

Now, the Japanese talisman is raring to go, fighting fit ahead of his Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open debut from December 30 at Victoria Park.

A deep run in Hong Kong can provide the perfect platform for Nishikori to prove himself against the current tour leaders.

"I still have the same passion from say 10 years ago," said the US Open 2014 finalist. "I still love tennis, I still love competing, playing matches with these guys, especially something new.

"There are players like (Jannik) Sinner, (Carlos) Alcaraz, the younger guys I haven't played in a match. That's something I'd like to do this year if I can raise my level and ranking. That's really good motivation for me, to play those younger talented players."

A rejuvenated Nishikori ramped up his 2024 comeback with a quarter-final showing at the ATP Masters 1000 in Montreal, which he replicated on home soil in Tokyo in September. His season was curtailed in style with an ATP Challenger Tour trophy lift in Helsinki. It's been an arduous journey, however, Nishikori has plenty of momentum to launch into 2025 at Causeway Bay.

"I finished (2024) pretty good. Not the best that I wanted, but still I finished well, especially winning the Challenger in the last tournament of the year," said Nishikori.

"That gave me a lot of confidence to win more matches on the Tour. I need to gain even more confidence to win more matches at the top level and that's what I need to do this week.

"It's important to do well here to have good preparation for the AO (Australian Open) too."

The No. 106 in the PIF ATP Rankings doesn't feel restricted by injuries anymore, hoping to put in a strong performance in a tricky opener against the resurgent Denis Shapovalov on Monday.

"Yeah physically I'm doing well, finally! The last two years, and even in 2024, I was struggling half this year too," added Nishikori.

"Tennis wise I feel more confident, that I can play with anybody now. It's all pretty positive. I want to enjoy every match and this week is a good challenge for me."

Three weeks back in Japan grinding in training, before 10 days in the States with coach Thomas Johansson, conjured up a promising pre-season. Despite his expectations shifting at the turn of the calendar, Nishikori has lofty ambitions for the 12 months ahead.

"I'm feeling good again, the practice here has been good, so I think I'm ready to play. It's just a different situation right now," admitted Nishikori, who soared from No. 581 to No. 106 within his 2024 campaign.

"Playing guys up in the Top 50 and beyond isn't going to be easy at all. I'm just going to try to enjoy every moment out there. The good thing is I still have the passion and I train a lot. I have no problem practising a lot, I still have the enjoyment.

"My goal for 2024 was Top 100 and I basically did it. Hopefully Top 50, I don’t know if I can do Top 20, Top 10 this year, hopefully I can in a few years, yes."

Nishikori spoke to the media at BOCHKTO 2025 on his 35^th birthday Sunday. The Japanese star is used to toasting his special day on the road.

"It's always been like this, apart from the past couple of years I was injured, so I stayed at home. That was ok, but this is back to normal. Sometimes I've had my birthday on the plane starting the season," revealed Nishikori.

"I want to enjoy my match tomorrow, so I'll try to do a good practice, then I won't be doing anything fancy tonight. No big celebrations, I will just have some good sleep!"