[Singles Qualifying — First Round]
Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) def. Yoshihito Nishioka, 7-5, 6-2

■ For Nishioka, this was his first official match in eight months, since the ATP 250 event in Delray Beach, United States, in February. He had been sidelined by pain in his left shoulder, and his recovery took a long time. Even when he felt he was ready to return, the pain would reappear once he started hitting. He spent six and a half months going back and forth between progress and setbacks. He was unable to make it back in time for the US Open he had planned to play, and his comeback was ultimately pushed back until this tournament. When his return match was set against Tsitsipas, a former world No. 3, Nishioka said, “I was excited, but honestly, I was also worried about my shoulder.”

■ The first set remained close until the final stages before Nishioka lost it 5-7. In the second set, he managed to break back once later on in the match but eventually fell 2-6. Despite the straight-sets defeat, Nishioka reflected, “It wasn’t too bad.” His shot-making, particularly on returns, was not yet at its usual level, but he was able to play through to the end. The strain on his left shoulder also appeared to remain within an acceptable range, leading him to say “I think I can continue playing a few more matches like this.” “Since I was able to do things to a certain extent, now it’s a matter of gradually getting my match rhythm back and remembering why I was able to win matches in the first place. I’ll get that back through playing matches,” he said. The fact that he was able to assess where he currently stands was perhaps the biggest takeaway from the match.

■ Nishioka turned 31 the day before the match. He has traditionally been known for his high work rate and his ability to push his body to its limits. However, with injuries becoming more frequent, he feels it is becoming difficult to win matches the way he used to—by grinding for “three or four hours” and refusing to give in. He has also experienced firsthand the punishing demands of power tennis. That is precisely why, while retaining his strengths of consistency and variety, he believes he “needs to shift” toward a new style, such as “finishing points in as short a time as possible.” Looking ahead, Nishioka said that by doing so, “I probably have one more chance.” This was a comeback match that yielded plenty—not just overcoming his injury, but also gaining a clearer vision of how he wants to play going forward.

Japan Tennis Association