Nishikori has shot at raising ranking
MILOS Raonic and Kei Nishikori will target the Brisbane International this summer to rebuild their ranking after injury- hit years.
Nishikori ( No. 22) and Raonic ( No. 24) are former Grand Slam runners- up with strong name recognition in Queensland and have entered the December 31- January 7 tournament, the Townsville Bulletin can reveal.
Both members of the top five 12 months ago, they will need mishapfree pre- season training stints to arrive at the Queensland Tennis Centre with confidence that their injury headaches are behind them.
Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner- up, called it quits for the year in early August to rest a wrist injury.
Raonic, 26, has not played since pulling out of his Japan Open second round match with a calf strain in early October.
It was the big Canadian’s return event from a seven- week lay- off that followed surgery on his left wrist, which sidelined him from the US Open.
Raonic, who started this year ranked No. 3 after making the 2016 Wimbledon final, has played three Brisbane Internationals and his 2016 final win over Roger Federer is the most recent of his eight career titles.
His 2017 Grand Slam season yielded quarter- finals exits at the Australian Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal, and Wimbledon, where he was beaten by Federer.
None of the 2016 year- end top- five men played in the US Open, with Raonic the only man to have played since.
Raonic called for an overhaul of the ATP season to address the rate of injuries, suggesting the four Grand Slams and Masters Series events be compressed into a seven- month period, instead of the current 10, to permit longer rest periods.
He withdrew from five tournaments this year and conceded walkovers at two others.
Nishikori’s entry continues his sequence of Queensland visits, as he has played in Brisbane seven times, losing the 2017 final to Grigor Dimitrov.
The Japanese right- hander is a three- time Brisbane semi- finalist and twice bowed out in the quarters and was reported last month to have been encouraged by how his wrist withstood a training week in Belgium.
World No. 1 Nadal, sixth- ranked Dimitrov and 16th ranked Andy Mur- ray head a list of six disclosed men’s top- 25 entries for the Brisbane International which includes Nick Kyrgios.
Australia will have only one direct entry, Kyrgios, for the men’s singles as his Davis Cup teammate Jordan Thompson will drop down to No. 95 in today’s rankings list after being as high as No. 62 in February.
In Japan on Saturday, Queenslander Akira Santillan lost his semifinal at the Kobe international to Frenchman ( 7- 1), 6- 2.
Santillan will be the fourth- ranked Australian man at No. 144, with John Millman next at No. 179 after Millman was a quarter- final casualty in Kobe. Stephane Robert