nishikori fails to reach final grand slam before retirement
Japan’s Kei Nishikori was beaten by compatriot Rei Sakamoto 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) in the US Open qualifying third round on Aug 28, falling a win short of making his last Grand Slam main draw before his retirement at the end of the season.The 36-year-old Nishikori, the first Asian man to reach a Grand Slam final at the tournament in 2014, was unable to overcome the big-serving 20-year-old Sakamoto, who sealed the win with his 19th ace against none from the veteran at Flushing Meadows.“It’s a refreshing emotion, as if he totally blew out the last flame of a candle,” said Nishikori, a former world No. 4 who received a qualifying wild card for the 2026 tournament.“I felt I wasn’t able to cope once the level went up slightly.“Not happy to lose today, but I mean I’m happy for Rei, he’s the next Japanese top player so I hope he can make the top 10 soon. It was a great week for me. I was really enjoying it.”Nishikori went up 2-0 but Sakamoto responded with two breaks of his own to take the first set. The pair held serves in the second set before Sakamoto jumped to a 6-1 lead in the tie-break and prevailed in 1hr 42min.“I really enjoyed my entire tennis life,” Nishikori said.“It was almost 20 years with the pros and especially here I had great memories, one time final, semis, many great matches I played here in New York so happy to play in the last moment.”Sakamoto had 33 winners to 14 from Nishikori and the up-and-coming world No. 157 was “happy” to reach the main draw starting on Aug 30.“My serves were really good, and I also managed to play aggressively,” Sakamoto said. “I hope to become a player on par with Kei.”Nishikori, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics bronze medallist, has been plagued by injuries since having left hip surgery in January 2022.He did not play in the US Open mixed doubles with Naomi Osaka as originally announced but is scheduled to compete in the Japan Open starting in late September in Tokyo. KYODO NEWS
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