Nishikori nearing Slam glory: Chang

london — Kei Nishikori absolutely has the talent to make the breakthrough and win one of tennis’s Grand Slams, his coach Michael Chang told AFP.

Chang said the injury-plagued Japanese world number nine needed to hit the majors healthy, make a few adjustments to his game and he could be a match for anyone on the tour.

Though Nishikori made the 2014 US Open final, he has never gone beyond the quarters at the Australian or French Opens, or the last 16 on the grass at Wimbledon.

This year at the All England Club, the 27-year-old slumped to a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 loss to Spanish 18th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the last 32.

“This is a surface he can do well on,” Chang insisted. “When Kei’s healthy, I think he can play against the best players in the world on any surface, and especially the way the grass courts are playing now at Wimbledon, it suits a lot of baseliners.

“Hopefully it’s just a matter of time. But I don’t think his past results here are reflective of what he can do,” said the 1989 French Open champion, who also made the 1996 US and Australian Open finals.

Nishikori has the sport’s dominant big four — Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic — ahead of him, with the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Marin Cilic also battling to break into the club. —