He is deemed to be one of the next big things to happen in Tennis. The Japanese World Number 1 Kei Nishikori has let his racquet do the talking as he reached the finals of the US open last time around. The expectations out of this youngster have grown and many experts say that he has in him to win the Grand Slam.
In September last year, Nishikori played against the top players like Djokovic, Wawrinka before losing out the US open finals to Marlin Cilic. His run at the US open last year was enough to impress the experts including the legend, Andre Agassi as the Tennis star feels that Kei Nishikori has the capability to win the Australian Open this year.
“There is no question in my mind he believes he can win a slam,” Agassi said after playing an exhibition against Nishikori in Tokyo. “I’ve seen him play with that purpose. From a talent perspective, he’s very capable of winning a Grand Slam. He’s dynamic and incredibly fast.”
Kei Nishikori also finished the last year’s season on a high as he finished in the Top 10. He won 4 titles and qualified for the ATP World Tour finals where he fell to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
After reaching the semi-finals in Brisbane in the lead up to this year’s Australian Open, Nishikori has made a perfect start for this year’s season. “One goal is to at least reach the semifinals in all of them (the four Grand Slam events),” Nishikori said.
However, people hyped a lot about him in the past and he has failed to live up to the expectations. Now, he has gotten into the top 10 and is ready to crack the next level.
“Yeah, took some time,” he said. “Last year I did great, but last couple years I was a little bit struggling on Grand Slams.“But now I have more confidence and playing better tennis and physically I’m much more fit. I think I can make little changes, hopefully this year.”
“I really need couple more years to get more experience and get more stronger tennis, mentally, physically, everything,” he said. “But I think I’m getting really close, so hopefully I can bring more good news to Japan.”