Kei Nishikori began 2018 in a far different state than that in which he finished the season. It’s easy to forget that the Japanese star missed the Australian Open as he continued his recovery from a wrist injury that had kept him out since the 2017 Coupe Rogers. Nishikori began his comeback on the ATP Challenger Tour in late January, even losing his first match against the World No. 238.

But Nishikori would find some of his best tennis, and more importantly, good health, as the year went on. He qualified for the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth time, beating Roger Federer in round robin play at the season finale.

“It took a little while to get my tennis back… Also, my wrist was hurting at the same time. It took a little while to get healed 100 per cent,” said Nishikori, who begins the new year at the Brisbane International. “At that time I couldn’t really imagine I’d be in the Top 10 at the end of the year. But I was very happy to finish by playing in London last year.”

While Nishikori showed signs of his best tennis early in his comeback — reaching the final of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and his first quarter-final at Wimbledon — he was still well out of reach of a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals when the US Open rolled around.

“Obviously it was a progression,” said one of Nishikori’s two coaches, Dante Bottini.

But Nishikori clicked into gear, digging deep to find the consistency he was seeking, making the quarter-finals or better in his final six tournaments of the year ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals, highlighted by a run to the last four in Flushing Meadows.

During the off-season, it’s been back to work for Nishikori at his second home: the IMG Academy in Florida, where he moved as a teenager. The World No. 9 is leaving no stone left unturned as he pushes to maintain his momentum.

It’s the same hard-working attitude Nishikori has had since he first decided he wanted to become a professional tennis player at 12 years old. He could have stayed in Japan, but Nishikori chose to move to the IMG Academy to completely focus on his tennis.

“At an early age, you saw the trademarks of a champion,” said Nishikori’s childhood coach Paul Forsyth. “From 13 to where he is right now, you can tell the boy was going places.”

And Nishikori, who turned 29 on Saturday, certainly has gone far in the sport. That’s why a swarm of Japanese media visited with Nishikori for a media day in Florida in the middle of December, chronicling the star’s every move in his preparation for the upcoming season. 

“He’s like Michael Jordan here, like Diego Maradona in Argentina,” Bottini said of his charge’s star-status in Japan.

“I heard that there is an airplane with his picture. I’ve heard that before, but it’s amazing. He’s an idol in Japan,” Forsyth said.

And while Nishikori showed why he receives that attention with his impressive 2018 comeback, he is not ready to slow down his upwards trajectory. He wants to continue rising, and push the bar even higher.

“I hope I can come back to the Top 5 again and win the big tournaments.”

It’s not every day that you get to take a helicopter ride over a crystal clear ocean, and it’s also not every day that you try kangaroo for the first time. But former World No. 1 Andy Murray did both on Saturday before beginning his campaign at the Brisbane International.

Murray and his coach, Jamie Delgado, took a helicopter ride to North Stradbroke Island, which is about 30 kilometres southeast of Brisbane. It was a nice excursion for the Scot before beginning his 2019 season at the ATP Tour 250 event.

“I enjoyed going in the helicopter. I’d been a few times before, but normally over cities. I’ve not been over water as much, and [there are] amazing views up there, so I enjoyed it,” Murray said. “Coach didn’t like it as much. I think he came around at the end. He was a bit worried at the beginning.”

Once on the island, Murray and Delgado received a traditional welcome, and a chef presented various local cuisine for the pair to taste. Murray even tried slow-cooked kangaroo for the first time, despite initial hesitation. He also enjoyed oyster and lobster tail.

“The kangaroo was alright. It was better than what I was expecting. Most of the stuff was fresh today, caught out of the ocean here and it was very good,” Murray said. “As you get a little bit older, you want to immerse yourself in the culture of the different countries that we go to visit. It’s a great opportunity that we get to travel the world and see different places, meet different people, try different foods. I had kangaroo for the first time in my life today, which I certainly wouldn’t have tried when I was younger, but I gave it a go and it was pretty good.”

Murray will now shift his focus to the task at hand in Brisbane, as he looks to earn his third title at the season-opening event. While the Scot is in town to extend his perfect 9-0 record at the tournament, he was happy to take a bit of a break from the tennis to enjoy the area first.

“Just to see the local culture, check out the beaches. I got to try a lot of their food, which was brilliant,” Murray said. “This is definitely a little bit different from most things we do, and I enjoyed it.”

Novak Djokovic played sensational tennis at the end of the 2018 season. In his final five tournaments of the year, Djokovic won the Western & Southern Open, the US Open and the Rolex Shanghai Masters before finishing runner-up at the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals. Now back at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, the Serbian will look to use that momentum to get off to a fast start in 2019.

Djokovic opens his season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he will face Damir Dzumhur in the first round. In the pair’s only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting just two months ago in Paris, Djokovic led 6-1, 2-1 before three-time ATP Tour champion Dzumhur was forced to retire.

The 31-year-old Djokovic will try to extend his 10-match winning streak in Doha, as the 72-time tour-level titlist has triumphed at the season-opening event in his past two appearances (2016-17). If he gets by Dzumhur, the top seed will face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics or Marius Copil in the second round. Fifth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili, who could face Djokovic in the quarter-finals, won his first two tour-level titles in 2018, and both of them came at ATP Tour 500 events.

Watch Highlights Of Djokovic’s 2017 Triumph In Doha:

And while everyone will want to see Djokovic’s form, plenty of fans will also be glued to a tantalising first-round encounter, on the same half of the draw, between Paris titlist Karen Khachanov and former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.

Khachanov finished 2018 as one of the hottest players on the ATP Tour, storming to his first ATP Tour Masters 1000 title in France, playing impressive tennis to beat Djokovic in the final. The Russian, the third seed in Doha, has proven to be one of the biggest hitters on the circuit. But Wawrinka has shown his ability to also unleash on the ball, especially with his elegant, yet ferocious one-handed backhand.

Wawrinka came out on top in their only previous encounter, which came just more than three months ago in St. Petersburg. But that was a tightly contested affair with both sets going to tie-breaks, and the duo should put on another thrilling show in Doha. Khachanov or Wawrinka could eventually play seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the last eight, with Djokovic lurking in the semi-finals.

View Doha Draw

Dominic Thiem is the second seed in Doha, and the Austrian will try to add a third hard-court title to his resumé. Thiem opens against Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who beat him in their only clash two years ago. That match was also on a hard court, albeit indoors, in Rotterdam.

Tomas Berdych, who has not competed since the Fever-Tree Championships in June, makes his return as a wild card against a player whom he has beaten on eight of 10 attempts: Philipp Kohlschreiber. Former World No. 4 Berdych seeks his first title since 2016 Shenzhen. The winner of that match could face No. 8 seed Fernando Verdasco in the second round.

Also on the bottom half of the draw are fourth seed Marco Cecchinato and sixth seed David Goffin, who could meet in the quarter-finals.

Did You Know?
Djokovic is also competing in doubles in Doha, alongside his brother, Marko Djokovic. They have played together five times previously, with the last time coming in Dubai in 2013.