Nishikori's Last Dance: Tokyo Farewell Starts Against Tiafoe

Kei Nishikori has one tournament left, and it's in Tokyo. The 36-year-old former world No. 4 is playing the last event of his career at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships. He is there on a wild card, and he could hardly have drawn a tougher opener. His first-round opponent is second seed Frances Tiafoe.

"Very emotional. I have mixed feelings. I am excited to play in Japan. But I also know this is my last moment," Nishikori told ATPTour.com ahead of the event. It is his 12th appearance at his home ATP 500, where he has a 24-9 record.

The end of an era for Japanese tennis

Nishikori announced on social media on 30 April that he would stop at the end of the 2026 season. "I have decided to retire from professional tennis at the end of this season," he wrote. By then he had slipped to No. 464 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Injuries had kept him away from the tour for long stretches, and his last tour-level event before the announcement was Cincinnati in 2025.

His numbers explain why Tokyo is treating this week as a send-off. Nishikori was the first Japanese man to break into the Top 10, and his peak of No. 4 makes him the highest-ranked player in his country's history. He has won 12 ATP Tour titles and more than 450 tour-level matches, and he played the season-ending championships four times (2014-2016 and 2018), reaching the semi-finals twice.

His best season was 2014. That year he won four titles and went 54-14. At the US Open he beat then-world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals on his way to the final. He also became one of the best deciding-set players in the sport's history. According to the ATP, his 72.4 per cent win rate in deciding sets is bettered only by Björn Borg (73.4) and John McEnroe (72.8) when he is compared with the members of the ATP No. 1 Club.

Two titles that felt like Slams

Tokyo is where he won two of those titles, in 2012 against Milos Raonic and again in 2014. "That was my biggest moment here," Nishikori said of the 2012 title. "Winning here is almost like winning a Grand Slam title for me because this is my home." Looking back on 2014, he added: "I think 2014 was my best year… I wish I could win a couple more but two times is good for me."

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Tiafoe finally gets his wish

Tiafoe asked for this match months ago. Speaking in Washington in the summer, the American said: "I hope I get to play him. I got to beat him, because we only played once, and he beat me back in the day." Their only previous meeting was in Vienna in 2018, when Nishikori won in three sets.

Tiafoe arrives in form. He is at a career-high No. 8 after reaching the Cincinnati final and then his third major semi-final at the US Open. In New York he came back from two sets down to beat Alex Michelsen in the quarter-finals.

Tokyo's main draw began on Wednesday, and according to match listings, Nishikori's opener is expected on Thursday. If he wins, the career goes on for at least one more round. If he loses, the home crowd at Ariake will be watching his last match as a professional.