Nishikori on Tokyo return: 'I might get tight'

pThere are not many greater feelings in the sport than triumphing at an ATP Tour event held on your home turf, and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/kei-nishikori/n552/overview'Kei Nishikori/a can say he has done it twice./p

pThe Japanese star, who rose to a career-high of World No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings, has flirted with the possibility of returning to the winnerrsquo;s circle in Tokyo but has admitted that nerves may be there as he prepares to compete at the ATP 500 event for the first time since 2018./p

pldquo;Itrsquo;s a big goal to win again this week,rdquo; Nishikori said ahead of the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/tokyo/329/overview'Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships/a, which gets underway on Wednesday. ldquo;I might get tight but I will try to enjoy it.rdquo;/p

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pNishikori twice overcame the threat of Canadian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/milos-raonic/r975/overview'Milos Raonic/a in the final to clinch the 2012 and 2014 titles in Tokyo and, after receiving a wild card this year, the 34-year-old is making his first appearance in the Japanese capital in six years./p

pldquo;This is something special to win a title [here], this is my home and I have always watched the tournament when I was little,rdquo; Nishikori added. ldquo;I know that itrsquo;s tough this year, not easy to go far, but I will try to go as far as I can.rdquo;/p

pThe 12-time ATP Tour titlist has been hampered by injuries in recent years but has been making a steady return to full health, displaying some impressive tennis. Nishikori reached the quarter-finals at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2019 with his run in Montreal in August./p

pHe then made back-to-back quarter-finals of ATP Challenger events in Como and Genoa before being beaten by a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://https://www.atptour.com/en/players/juncheng-shang/s0re/overview" target="_blank"Shang Juncheng/a in the first round of the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/chengdu/7581/overview'Chengdu Open/a, in which the Chinese rising star went on to lift the trophy.nbsp;/p

pThere is no place like home, and Nishikori recognises the importance of soaking these moments in./p

pldquo;This is the only time I get a lot of fans, even to practice [sessions], and I donrsquo;t usually get this feeling, so I will try to enjoy,rdquo; Nishikori said. ldquo;Itrsquo;s great to see many fans show up to this tournament, I always feel a lot of support.rdquo;/p

p/p

pNishikori gets his Tokyo campaign underway against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marin-cilic/c977/overview'Marin Cilic/a in a repeat of the 2014 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a final, which the Croatian won in straight sets./p

pThe Japanese leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 9-6 but Cilic will fancy his chances. The former World No.3 in the PIF ATP Rankings comes into the tournament on a five-match winning streak after clinching his first ATP Tour title since 2021 at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/hangzhou/4713/overview'Hangzhou Open/a on Tuesday./p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p