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.

In 2018, Novak Djokovic completed his Career Golden Masters, John Isner struck his 10,000th ace, Roger Federer became the oldest No. 1 in ATP Rankings history (since 1973) at 36 and much more. Here are some of the milestones out there for ATP Tour stars to reach in 2019:

Titles
– Federer continues his pursuit of title No. 100, after earning his 99th in Basel. The Swiss fell just short of the century mark when he reached the semi-finals in both Paris and London.

– Federer can also capture his 10th trophy in Halle and Basel. He’d become just the second player to win 10 titles at a single event, joining Rafael Nadal, who has done so at three tournaments.

– Nadal, who owns 11 victories at Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros, can become the first player to lift a trophy 12 times at a single event.

– Djokovic, who was victorious four times in 2018, is just three titles from becoming the sixth player to win 75 titles. The Serbian has earned three championships or more in 10 of the past 12 years.

– Mike Bryan, who finished at the top of the ATP Doubles Rankings for the 10th time in 2018, currently owns 121 tour-level doubles titles, 116 of which have come with brother Bob Bryan. While the twin brothers are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in that category, Mike Bryan can become the first player to win 125 titles in the discipline. He has captured at least four championships in a season 16 times.

– Andy Murray is looking to make a strong comeback in 2019, and what better way to do it than winning his 50th title? He currently sits with 45, but he has claimed five titles or more in a year four times previously.

– Juan Martin del Potro can become just the third Argentine to capture 25 titles. He needs to lift three trophies in 2019, a feat he has accomplished four times (2008-09, 2012-13).

– Marin Cilic (18 titles) has only captured four crowns in a season once before (2014). But if he manages to do so again, he will tie Goran Ivanisevic (22) for the most titles won by a Croatian.

Match Wins
– Nadal (918-189) can move past Guillermo Vilas (948-290) and become just the fourth player to crack the 950-wins mark. Ivan Lendl sits in third place with 1,068 victories (1,068-242).

– Djokovic (836-175) needs just 14 victories to become the seventh player to earn 850 wins. If the World No. 1 triumphs 46 times in 2019, he will pass Ilie Nastase (837-312), Andre Agassi (870-274) and John McEnroe (881-198) to move to the No. 6 spot.

– Murray (662-189) won seven matches in 2018, missing much of the year due to injury. But if the former World No. 1 bounces back, he can become the fifth active player (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Ferrer) to claim 700 wins.

– Tomas Berdych needs 12 wins to tie and 13 victories to pass Bjorn Borg for 20th place.

– Three players can reach the 500-wins mark in 2019: Stan Wawrinka (482-279), Cilic (479-252) and Feliciano Lopez (473-430). In 2018, Fernando Verdasco and Richard Gasquet hit the milestone, while recently retired Mikhail Youzhny fell just short at 499.

– Nicolas Almagro (397-278), John Isner (393-242) and Kei Nishikori (374-242) can all earn their 400th tour-level victories. Almagro would become the 14th Spaniard, Isner the 19th American and Nishikori would be the first Japanese.

– Jeremy Chardy (248-253), Roberto Bautista Agut (245-150), Ernests Gulbis (235-217), David Goffin (229-144) and Dominic Thiem (225-129) could all reach 250 wins.

Rankings Milestones
– Mike Bryan, who sits atop the ATP Doubles Rankings (479 weeks as of the week of 31 December), can become the first player to reach 500 weeks as World No. 1. If the American remains at No. 1, he can accomplish the feat as soon as 27 May.

– Djokovic can reach 250 weeks atop the ATP Rankings the week of 6 May. If the Serbian maintains top spot, he can pass Jimmy Connors (268 weeks) and Ivan Lendl (270) in 2019 to reach third place in weeks atop the ATP Rankings. He would trail just Federer (310) and Pete Sampras (286).

– If Nadal wrestles No. 1 back from Djokovic, he can reach 200 weeks on top of tennis’ mountain. The Spaniard has spent 196 weeks as World No. 1.

– Federer can finish inside the year-end Top 50 for the 20th consecutive year. The 37-year-old has finished 18 straight seasons inside the Top 20.

– Nadal can finish inside the year-end Top 10 for the 15th consecutive year (Federer had 14 straight from 2002-15).

– Murray, who currently sits at No. 257 in the ATP Rankings, can finish in the year-end Top 10 for the 10th time.

Did You Know?

Ivo Karlovic turns 40 on 28 February, and he will try to become the first 40-year-old to finish inside the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings since Jimmy Connors in 1992. Karlovic just missed out as a 39-year-old, finishing 2018 at No. 101. The Croatian became the oldest tour-level semi-finalist since a 40-year-old Connors at 1992 San Francisco in Houston this year.

The top of the list will sound familiar. The #NextGenATP players who made headlines in 2018 – Rogers Cup finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas; Denis Shapovalov, the youngest Mutua Madrid Open semi-finalist; Alex de Minaur, Newcomer of the Year in the 2018 ATP World Tour Awards Presented By Moët & Chandon; and Delray Beach Open titlist Frances Tiafoe – will again be contenders for the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals as all four were born in 1998 or later.

Read Flashback: 18 #NextGenATP To Watch In 2018

But the remainder of the names on the 2019 #NextGenATP to watch list might be first-time reads for some fans. Players such as Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia or Aussie Alexei Popyrin have climbed the ATP Rankings behind ATP Challenger Tour runs. But they combine for only one tour-level win.

Will that change in 2019, and which other #NextGenATP players could pull a “De Minaur” and raise their ATP Ranking 177 spots in 12 months? ATPTour.com previews the 2019 #NextGenATP class.

Potential Returnees

Stefanos Tsitsipas (Rank: 15; Age: 20): The Greek was the #NextGenATP standout in 2018. In Milan in 2017, he was an alternate, unable to qualify for the 21-and-under championships. But in 2018, he sprinted through the tournament unbeaten, beating Aussie Alex de Minaur in the final to finish 5-0.

Tsitsipas will be eager to make his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in London, but he’ll have to avoid the dreaded second-year slump to remain in the Top 15 in 2019, as more coaches and players will have more match film to analyse and study.

Denis Shapovalov (Rank: 27, Age: 19): Shapovalov nearly halved his ATP Ranking from 2017 (51) to 2018 (27). If he can do that again in 2019, he’ll be inside the Top 15. The left-hander has made a coaching change heading into his third year on tour. After working with Martin Laurendeau for years, in 2019, Shapovalov will work with Canadian Rob Steckley, who used to coach WTA player Lucie Safarova, and continue to work with his mother, Tessa Shapovalova, who has coached him all his life.

Alex de Minaur (Rank: 31, Age: 19): No other player should inspire #NextGenATP players more than De Minaur, who was No. 208 in January but finished the season No. 31. De Minaur reached the Sydney International final (l. to Medvedev), the Citi Open final (l. to Zverev) and the Next Gen ATP Finals title match (l. to Tsitsipas). His peers voted him the Newcomer of the Year.

How will De Minaur fare in 2019? He’ll start the year in friendly territory, in his native Australia, where he celebrated his first tour-level wins in 2017 and made his first tour-level final in 2018.

Frances Tiafoe (Rank: 39, Age: 20): Tiafoe had only nine tour-level wins before this season (9-29). But he went 28-26 in his breakthrough 2018, which included his maiden ATP Tour title in Delray Beach (d. Gojowczyk) and his first clay-court ATP Tour final, at the Millennium Estoril Open (l. to Sousa). Tiafoe also made his first third round at a Grand Slam at Wimbledon (l. to Khachanov) before making his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

Ugo Humbert (Rank: 84, Age: 20): Few players at any level finished the year better than Humbert. The Frenchman was ranked No. 257 on 16 July but, behind reaching the second round at the US Open, an opening-round win at the Moselle Open and three ATP Challenger Tour titles from six finals, Humbert landed at No. 84 in the year-end ATP Rankings.

Michael Mmoh (Rank: 103, Age: 20): Mmoh just missed out on qualifying for the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals, finishing 88 points behind the final qualifier, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who will have aged out of the competition in 2019. But Mmoh still reached one of his other main goals for 2018: reaching the Top 100. The American cracked the century line in October after winning back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles (Columbus, Tiburon).

Read More: From Riyadh to Milan? Mmoh’s Journey Speeds Up

Felix Auger-Aliassime (Rank: 109, Age: 18): Auger-Aliassime might be the most intriguing name on this list. One day before his 18th birthday, at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, he knocked out No. 18 Lucas Pouille in straight sets to earn his second ATP Masters 1000 victory (2018 Indian Wells, d. Pospisil).

He ended the year 6-10 at tour-level, which included qualifying but losing in the first round to Shapovalov at the US Open. Auger-Aliassime also won his third and fourth ATP Challenger Tour titles. Only Richard Gasquet (7) and Tomas Berdych (5) won more Challenger titles before their 19^th birthday.

Read More: Felix Flies To Tashkent Challenger Title

Casper Ruud (Rank: 113, Age: 19): In February 2017, Ruud made the semi-finals of the Rio Open presented by Claro, an ATP Tour 500-level event. But after the run, he admitted to relaxing.

“I was really proud of myself, which you should be, but I was maybe a bit too happy with playing good that week… I wasn’t maybe greedy enough to go for many good weeks in a row,” Ruud told ATPTour.com.

He learned from that mistake, and in 2018, Ruud, whose father, Christian, reached No. 39 in the ATP Rankings, beat David Ferrer to make the quarter-finals of the SkiStar Swedish Open en route to climbing 26 spots in the ATP Rankings. 

Other #NextGenATP To Watch In 2019