Kei Nishikori's First Round Exit at the Paris Olympics
Japan's Kei Nishikori, a former world No. 4 and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, faced a disappointing first-round exit at the Paris Games tennis men's singles on Sunday. The 34-year-old Nishikori fell to Britain's Jack Draper, ranked 26th in the world, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.
Nishikori struggled to find his footing in the first set, committing 10 forced errors compared to Draper's four. The second set saw Nishikori improve his performance, but Draper secured a crucial break to take a 4-3 lead and ultimately clinched the match in 1 hour and 9 minutes. Nishikori failed to convert any of his four break point opportunities throughout the match.
"I couldn't play with tenacity at all and there's a bit of regret in that," Nishikori admitted. "The biggest downside was I couldn't make it a battle of groundstrokes."
Later that day, Nishikori and his doubles partner Taro Daniel faced another setback, losing their first-round match to the British pair of Andy Murray and Daniel Evans. After winning the first set 6-2, the Japanese duo fell in the second set 7-6(5) and lost the match tiebreak 11-9.
Despite the early exits in singles and doubles, Nishikori will continue his Olympic journey in the mixed doubles competition alongside Ena Shibahara.
Nishikori's participation in the Paris Games marks his fifth consecutive Olympic appearance, a record for a Japanese tennis player, surpassing Ai Sugiyama's four appearances. Notably, Nishikori chose to stay at the athletes' village, aiming to "meet many athletes to see their performances close," which he believes "definitely gives me motivation.
0 Comments
Name
Comment Text