Nishikori is on his way to writing history.
`It’s an honor to make history,` Nishikori said when he first reached the US Open semi-finals, the first Japanese to do so since 1933.
However, the 24-year-old tennis player reached a new milestone just a few days later.
Nishikori’s marathon at this year’s tournament can only be described as a miracle.
`We had to wait a long time for a star to appear and this is a very special moment,` said Mr. Hitoshi Ko from Japan’s Smash Tennis magazine.
Japanese tennis had to wait nearly a century to rise with pioneer Nishikori.
The Japan Tennis Federation was established that year and sent a team to the Davis Cup in 1921 including the pair Shimizu and Ichiya Kumagae.
The pair took the Japanese team past the Philippines, Belgium, India and Australia before losing to the United States in the final.
Nishikori’s career reached a new level when collaborating with famous former tennis player Michael Chang.
After World War II, Japanese tennis fell into disfavor for a long time.
By the 90s, Shuzo Matsuoka became the leader of Japanese men’s tennis with his achievement of reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1995. Nishikori admitted that Matsuoka was the example he followed and once set a goal of surpassing the ranking of 46th.
Nishikori has done what Japanese men’s tennis has expected for a long time.
Currently Nishikori is ranked 11th but will definitely advance strongly in the next ranking announcement.