Onetime US Open finalist Kei Nishikori said he felt good about his fitness and had high expectations for his Wimbledon campaign, despite struggles on grass and his continued return from a wrist injury that cost him the end of the 2017 season.
“I’ve had a couple of issues when I’ve played on this surface, but I think I’m getting stronger and hopefully this season is going to be okay,” Nishikori told reporters on Saturday. “I think this surface is the only one where I haven’t played my best yet, but I’ve got to keep working on it and trying new things every year.”
The Japanese No. 1 has put together decent form since his injury layoff, making the semifinals in his first tour event back and storming to the final in Monte Carlo. More recently, he reached the quarterfinals in Rome and the fourth round at Roland Garros, but has won just one match on grass ahead of SW19.
Indeed, grass is Nishikori’s weakest surface. Wimbledon is the only grand slam where he has never reached the quarterfinals — he has just two fourth round appearances — despite several top-10 seedings. None of his 23 tour finals have been on the lawns.
“I’ve got to change my tennis a little bit [on grass],” Nishikori said. “I always enjoy playing on grass, you’ve got to use different shots and you can try different things. I hope I can have a good result this year.”
The No. 24 seed will open play against American qualifier Christian Harrison, who is finding his best form at age 24 after losing several full seasons to injuries. Nevertheless, the world No. 200 has just one career win at tour level and was just 2-4 at the tour qualifying and challenger levels on grass this season before Wimbledon qualifiers began.
The two have never played a competitive match, but they have trained together at the IMG Academy and Florida, and Nishikori said they know each other — and their style of play — well.
“It’s our first time to play an official match so it’s going to be exciting and hopefully we both play good tennis,” Nishikori said. “He knows me a lot and how I play.”
