AO 2021: Kei Nishikori admits lack of practice due to strict quarantine rules led to first-round exit

In one of the major upsets on the opening day of the Australian Open, Japan’s Kei Nishikori was knocked out by Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta. The Spaniard was coming into the match on the back of two impressive wins in the ATP Cup whereas Nishikori had lost both of his matches against Diego Schwartzman and Daniil Medvedev in the same event.

Meanwhile, Kei Nishikori had to go through a strict quarantine period after landing in Australia as few of the passengers on his flight were tested positive for Covid-19. Thus, the Japanese couldn’t practice during his quarantine period and it led to his downfall in the first round of the Australian Open.

Nishikori admitted that the lack of practice was one of the major reasons for his early exit but also added that he doesn’t want to make any excuses for his loss and he will now try to give his best in the next tournament.

The 15th seed Spaniard was on a roll against Nishikori as the former thrashed the latter in straight sets by 7-5, 7-6, 6-2. Nishikori was not up to the mark against the in-form Busta and he was shown the exit doors after only the first round of the slam.

“I was trying not to think about it, but now I feel a little bit yes because I didn’t play my best last week. Took almost one week to play good tennis and feel good again. Physically, I was okay today. So it took almost one week, I kind of lost two matches last week. I would yes, but I don’t want to use this as an excuse. It is what it is, I’ll try to do my best in the next tournament,” said Nishikori.

In fact, this is the first time since 2009 when Nishikori has knocked out in the first round of the Australian Open. In 2020, the 31-year old had to withdraw himself from the AO due to right elbow injury.

Nishikori will now look to make a solid comeback in the coming tournaments.