Kei Nishikori made a Grand Slam final look possible for Asian men. At the 2014 US Open he beat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals to become the first Asian man to reach a major singles final, and in 2015 he climbed to No. 4, the highest ranking any Asian man has held, according to the ATP.
He won 12 ATP Tour titles, six of them at ATP 500 level, reached four Masters 1000 finals, qualified four times for the Nitto ATP Finals and won Olympic bronze in Rio in 2016. Surgery on his elbow and hip, and an ankle injury, cost him years in between. This week in Tokyo, where he won titles in 2012 and 2014, the ATP says he plays the final tournament of his career.
Leaving Japan at 14
Nishikori started playing at five and left Japan at 14 to train at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, speaking no English when he arrived, according to his ATP biography. He went to the United States as one of a small group of Japanese players supported through the Masaaki Morita Tennis Fund.
His first title came quickly. He won Delray Beach in 2008 as an 18-year-old qualifier ranked 244th, and the ATP says he remains the youngest champion on tour since Lleyton Hewitt won Adelaide at 16 in 1998. He was named ATP Newcomer of the Year that season.
2014: Raonic at 2:26 a.m., Wawrinka then Djokovic
He reached his first major quarter-final at the 2012 Australian Open, the first Japanese man to do so since Shuzo Matsuoka at Wimbledon in 1995. The same year he won his home title in Tokyo.
The ATP calls 2014 the best season of his career: four titles and a 54-14 record. He reached the Miami semi-finals, beating Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, and in May he became the first Japanese man in the ATP’s top 10, The Associated Press reported. Coached then by Michael Chang, he arrived at the US Open as the 10th seed and beat Milos Raonic in a fourth-round match that ended at 2:26 a.m., equalling the tournament’s latest finish. On the Wednesday he beat third seed Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(7), 6-7(5), 6-4 in four hours and 15 minutes to become the first Japanese man in the US Open semi-finals since Ichiya Kumagae in 1918, according to AP.
Then came Djokovic, the world No. 1, and the ATP still lists that semi-final as the biggest of his career wins. He lost the final to Marin Cilic. He won Tokyo again that autumn.
No. 4 and the Nitto ATP Finals
Nishikori reached No. 4 in 2015 and played the season finale four times, in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018, reaching the semi-finals in 2014 and 2016, the ATP says. He made the quarter-finals of all four majors. At the 2018 US Open he and Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese man and woman in the last eight of the same major since Kimiko Date and Matsuoka at Wimbledon in 1995, AFP reported, and he then beat Cilic, the man who had beaten him in the 2014 final, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4 for his third US Open semi-final.
Rio bronze and a drought ended in Brisbane
He won bronze in the men’s singles at the Rio 2016 Olympics. After a title in February 2016 he lost nine consecutive finals, a run that ended when he beat Daniil Medvedev in the Brisbane International final in January 2019, ABC reported. It was his 12th and last tour title.
Surgery and the way back
His ATP biography records right elbow operations in August 2009 and October 2019 and hip surgery in early 2022 that kept him out for the whole season. An ankle injury in practice late that year delayed his comeback by four to five months. He returned at the 2023 Palmas del Mar Challenger and became the first unranked player to win a Challenger title.
The deciding-set record
Nishikori’s reputation rests on long matches as much as titles. The ATP says he has won 72.4 per cent of his deciding sets at tour level, a rate bettered only by Bjorn Borg (73.4 per cent) and John McEnroe (72.8 per cent).
The farewell
He announced on 30 April that he would retire at the end of the 2026 season. “To be honest, I still wish I could continue my playing career. Even so, looking back on everything up to this point, I can proudly say that I gave it my all,” he wrote. He had 451 tour-level wins at the time, according to the ATP.
Much of his final season was spent below tour level. He went through qualifying at Cincinnati, and his last US Open bid ended in qualifying. The farewell comes at the Japan Open, where he opens against second seed Frances Tiafoe.
Grand Slam best results
- Australian Open: quarter-finals, first reached in 2012
- Roland Garros: quarter-finals (2015, 2017, 2019)
- Wimbledon: quarter-finals (2018, 2019)
- US Open: final (2014); semi-finals (2016, 2018)
Season Snapshot — 29 September 2026
- Status: playing the Japan Open in Tokyo (30 September to 6 October), which the ATP describes as the final tournament of his career. First-round opponent: second seed Frances Tiafoe.
- Ranking: No. 464 when he announced his retirement on 30 April, according to the ATP.
- 2026: Challenger events and tour-level qualifying. The ATP said in April that his most recent tour-level event was the 2025 Cincinnati Open.
- Career: 12 ATP Tour titles and 451 tour-level wins as of 30 April.
This snapshot is dated and will change. The career record above does not.
