Kei Nishikori canceled his start at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Brisbane. Félix Auger-Aliassime will not be able to participate in the qualification for the Australian Open due to injury.
Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic have already postponed their season’s start. Next prominent name on the cancellation list: Kei Nishikori. The 27-year-old Japanese man, who has been absent since August due to a serious wrist injury, cannot start the new tennis year in Brisbane as planned.
“I’m very disappointed to miss the 2018 tournament. For years I have been starting my season here and I have always felt at home in Brisbane”, Nishikori is quoted by the organizer via Twitter.
The former fourth in the world rankings had reached last year’s final at the Queensland Tennis Center, which he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in three sets. He was also denied a title for the rest of the season. It was the first time in six years that Nishikori finished a season without winning the tournament.
During the world rankings-22. Félix Auger-Aliassime – just recently Roger Federer’s sparring partner in Dubai – had to check out the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The 17-year-old candier suffered a knee injury during training.