Japanese tennis trailblazer Kei Nishikori, the former U.S. Open finalist and world No. 4, will bring his legendary 17-year professional career to a close on home soil this fall, competing in the 2024 Japan Open in Tokyo. Tournament organizers have granted the 36-year-old a wild card entry for the event, which is scheduled to run from September 30 to October 6, the ATP Tour officially confirmed on Tuesday.
Nishikori made his pro debut in 2007, and over the course of his career he redefined what Japanese men’s tennis could achieve on the global stage. He made history in 2014 when he became the first Japanese man to reach a Grand Slam singles final at the U.S. Open, where he ultimately fell in straight sets to Croatian star Marin Cilic. He peaked at a career-high ranking of world No. 4, making him the highest-ranked Japanese male player in ATP history. Another standout highlight of his career came at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he defeated the legendary Rafael Nadal to claim a bronze medal.
In recent years, consistent injury struggles have sidelined Nishikori, limiting him exclusively to the lower-tier ATP Challenger Tour in 2024 and dropping his current ranking to No. 703 in the world.
Michael Chang, the 1989 French Open champion who served as Nishikori’s long-time coach, emphasized that Nishikori’s achievements carry even greater weight when considering the era he competed in. Nishikori built his career alongside the so-called Big Three and Big Four of men’s tennis: Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray, widely regarded as the most dominant group of players in the history of the sport.
“For him to get to No. 4 in the world on two different occasions is not easy,” Chang told the Associated Press during this year’s French Open. “I tell him he’s got nothing but to feel great about what he’s accomplished in tennis.” Chang added that while retirement marks the start of a new life chapter for Nishikori, he believes the next phase spent with his young family will bring new joy and opportunity. “He’s had a great career and hopefully he finishes out well and Tokyo gives him a good send-off because I think he deserves it,” Chang said.
Fellow Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion and former world No. 1, shared how Nishikori’s trailblazing career inspired her own path to the top of the sport. Speaking in Paris, Osaka noted that before Nishikori’s breakthrough, Japanese tennis had never produced a male player who reached such heights on the global tour.
“Being Japanese, being able to look up to him, seeing everything he’s achieved, in a world where Japanese tennis hadn’t been able to go as far as he did in that moment in time, it was just so inspiring,” Osaka said. “I wanted to stand next to him as the female representative. So I’m really glad that I was able to do that. I’m grateful for everything that he’s done and I want to see him play tennis one more time.”