Kei Nishikori is latest player to miss season due to injury
By Harry Floyd
Kei Nishikori is the latest player to announce his withdrawal from the remainder of the 2017 ATP World Tour. He is citing a right wrist injury as the cause.
Kei Nishikori will miss the remainder of the 2017 ATP World Tour due to a right wrist injury. The world No. 9 tore a tendon in his wrist.
He is just the latest of top men’s singles players announcing their withdrawal from the remainder of the season. Other top players such as Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic and defending US Open champion Stan Wawrinka are also out for the rest of the year.
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Nishikori’s announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise. Other players were suffering more noticeably from lingering injuries before announcing their withdrawals.
Djokovic was visibly hurt due to his elbow injury in play at Wimbledon. Wawrinka has already undergone at least two surgeries for his season ending injury. He initially withdrew from tournaments leading into the US Open before deciding to end the year early in order to recover fully.
Kei Nishikori is 30-13 in singles matches on the 2017 ATP World Tour.
During preparation for the Cincinnati Masters, Nishikori heard a pop in his wrist during practice. So far, he is yet to have surgery on the injury and is seeing if it is possible to recover without surgery as an option. His team should have an update in the coming weeks.
The withdrawal for the rest of the 2017 ATP World Tour is a disappointment. In 2014, Kei Nishikori reached the finals at the US Open. He has seen success at the final Grand Slam of the calendar year and could have taken advantage of the thinning field this year. His finals appearance in 2014 was against Marin Cilic, who has also suffered from some lingering injuries this year. Cilic is skipping the Cincinnati Masters due to an injury.
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Injuries seem to have hit the men’s singles field all of a sudden in recent weeks. Top players Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have emerged as the players to beat for the rest of the year. Their intermittent schedules have benefited them immensely this year as they have combined to win all three Grand Slams so far. Stay tuned to see how Kei Nishikori’s recovery goes throughout the offseason.