PARIS (AP) 鈥� Former U.S. Open finalist at home when he plays in the Japan Open later this year.
The 36-year-old Nishikori has been given a wild card invitation by tournament organizers, the ATP Tour confirmed Tuesday.
The tournament in Tokyo will be held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6.
By reaching No. 4, Nishikori was the highest-ranked Japanese man in the history of the ATP rankings.
Nishikori, having made his professional debut in 2007, also became the first Japanese man to advance to the final of a Grand Slam singles tournament at the . He lost the title match in straight sets to Croatia鈥檚 Marin Cilic.
Nishikori also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics by beating Rafael Nadal.
Michael Chang, the 1989 French Open winner who used to coach Nishikori, pointed out that his accomplishments should be magnified since he played in the era of the Big Three and Big Four alongside Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
鈥淔or him to to get to No. 4 in the world on two different occasions is not easy,鈥� Chang told The Associated Press at the . 鈥淚 tell him he鈥檚 got nothing but to feel great about what he鈥檚 accomplished in tennis.
鈥淗e鈥檚 approaching a different stage in his life and maybe he doesn鈥檛 agree with me but I think he鈥檚 going to have more important and more exciting things with his young family,” Chang added. “He鈥檚 had a great career and hopefully he finishes out well and Tokyo gives him a good send-off because I think he deserves it.鈥�
After struggling with injuries, Nishikori has played exclusively on the lower-tier Challenger tour this year. He鈥檚 now No. 703.
鈥淏eing Japanese, being able to look up to him, seeing everything he鈥檚 achieved, in a world where Japanese tennis hasn鈥檛 been able to go as far as he did in that moment in time, it was just so inspiring,鈥� four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, a former No. 1, said in Paris. “I wanted to stand next to him as the female representative.
鈥淪o I鈥檓 really glad that I was able to do that,鈥� Osaka added. 鈥淚鈥檓 grateful for everything that he鈥檚 done and I want to see him play tennis one more time.鈥�
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