Already ranked ninth in Forbes' list of top tennis earners, Japan's Kei Nishikori is due for a bigger share of the off-court largesse despite losing Monday's final at the US Open, US marketing experts say.
For over three-quarters of a century men's tennis in Japan has played out like a kabuki tragedy, filled with decades of barren results, embarrassments and even a suicide.
Rafael Nadal is in no hurry to join the trend of hiring big names. He is quite happy with uncle Toni and will not be seeking to appoint a former Grand Slam winner to his coaching team.
The 32-year-old debutant at the ATP's blue riband event won the first 11 games of the round-robin clash before a relieved Nishikori finally got on the scoreboard with an angled winner.
The Sony Open, one of tennis's most prestigious events, was left devastated when both men's semi-finals ended in walkovers on Friday sending World No 1 Rafael Nadal and No 2 Novak Djokovic through to the final without hitting a ball.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic eased his way into the Australian Open semi-finals, brushing aside Canada's Milos Raonic with a 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Japan has extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until the end of May as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases
Photos from the Miami Masters Sony Open played on Wednesday.
Marin Cilic became the first Croatian to win a Grand Slam singles final in 13 years with his victory at the US Open in New York on Monday.
Hosts Japan sailed into the Davis Cup quarter-finals for the first time with a 3-1 victory against injury-plagued Canada on Sunday.
A ruffled Rafael Nadal fumed after being called for multiple time violations but composed himself to fend off a gallant Kei Nishikori and reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Monday with a tense 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) win.
The US Open is the biggest tournament in America's tennis calendar. Enough reason for the big personalities from Hollywood, former tennis champions and other celebrities to catch their favourite tennis stars in action.
Kei Nishikori exacted a measure of revenge against Marin Cilic when the Japanese world number five overcame the Croatian in the semi-finals of the Citi Open.
Defending champion Roger Federer became the second high-profile casualty at the Madrid Open when he was beaten 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 by Japanese 14th seed Kei Nishikori in the third round.
Japan's Kei Nishikori will meet Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the final of the US National Indoor Tennis Championships after besting Australian Marinko Matosevic in the semi-finals in Memphis on Saturday.
Andy Murray has thrown his unequivocal support behind the crackdown on time-wasting in tennis because he believes it will turn the sport into even more of a survival of the fittest.
In his pre-tournament news conference in Toronto on Sunday, Nadal said a recurring foot issue he has been dealing with since 2005 returned at the French Open, where he fell to eventual champion Djokovic in the semi-finals.
Rafa Nadal overcame another hurdle on his way to a possible eighth Barcelona Open title in nine years when he recovered from a poor start to beat Benoit Paire 7-6, 6-2 in their delayed third-round match on Friday.
"You can't think that (Kei) Nishikori, Dominic Thiem or Marin Cilic have a chance," the former French Open champion said.
The Austrian spent four days in bed with a virus after pulling out of a tournament in Doha last week.
Japan's Kei Nishikori wrapped up a straight sets win over Feliciano Lopez to win the Memphis International on Sunday.
Top-seeded Marin Cilic saved three match points to narrowly avoid becoming the latest upset at the Memphis International tournament on Thursday.
Zverev's brother Mischa Zverev was also eliminated, going out 6-3, 6-1 to David Ferrer in the first round, while Kei Nishikori eased to a 7-5, 6-2 win over Taylor Fritz to secure a place in the third round.
Fourth seed David Ferrer used all of his cunning and exploited Kei Nishikori's nagging knee injury to advance to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory on Sunday.
Djokovic will need to win in Tokyo and then the US Open later this year to achieve the feat that has so far only been accomplished by Steffi Graf in 1988.
Kei Nishikori stunned big-serving Milos Raonic 7-6, 3-6, 6-0 with an electrifying display of attacking tennis to become the host country's first Japan Open champion on Sunday.
Defending champion Andy Murray blew out the cobwebs with a 7-6, 6-4 win over towering Croat Ivo Karlovic on Tuesday in his first match since winning last month's U.S. Open.
Croatia, Serbia and Austria sealed places in the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Sunday after converting 2-1 overnight leads into winning margins.
Images from Day Nine of the French Open at Roland Garros on Monday.
While all eyes will be on Nadal and Djokovic, US tennis legend John McEnroe said Andy Murray and Japan's Kei Nishikori are the two most likely players to spring a surprise.
Alexander Zverev suffered a surprise defeat against Frenchman Ugo Humbert
Japanese trailblazer Kei Nishikori had a thrilling run at the US Open, but could not summon a finishing kick as he hit the wall against big-hitting Marin Cilic in Monday's final at Flushing Meadows.
Fourth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffered an unexpected defeat in his opening match at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday when he was beaten 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 by Japanese Kei Nishikori.
Vishnu Vardhan impressed one and all with his gritty fight against Kei Nishikori in his Davis Cup debut match but Somdev Devvarman feels it's too early to declare that India have got the second specialist singles player for the prestigious tournament.
India's World Group hopes are hanging by a slender thread as its top singles player, Somdev Devvarman is still doubtful to play Sunday's reverse singles in the play-off tie against Japan due to a shoulder injury.
Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek's campaign in the BNP Paribas Open came to an end after they lost 6-3, 7-6(5) to Spain's Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez at Indian Wells on Wednesday.
Kei Nishikori was crowned Barcelona Open champion for the second consecutive year after a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 victory over surprise Spanish finalist Pablo Andujar on Sunday.
World number one Novak Djokovic was surprisingly beaten by unseeded Kei Nishikori of Japan in the semi-finals of the Basel Open on Saturday, suffering a new injury setback in the process.
Kei Nishikori reached his first Masters Series semi-final with a commanding 6-4, 6-3 victory over Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov on Friday, underlining his imminent status as Japan's highest-ranked player ever on the ATP Tour. Awaiting the high-flying Asian star in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals is world number four Andy Murray, who comfortably ended Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden's dream run with a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 victory in the Qi Zhong Stadium.
Spain's David Ferrer produced a clinical 6-4, 6-3 victory over local hope Kei Nishikori to reach the last 16 of the Japan Open on Tuesday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances