■On the 24th, just one day before the start of the main tournament, Kei Nishikori (ranked 200th in the world), who will be participating as a wild card (recommended by the organizer), held a press conference and expressed his aspirations. He won his first Kinoshita Group Japan Open in 2012 and his second in 2014, but this will be his first appearance in six years.

■”It's been a long time since I last played him, so I'm both excited and nervous. Of course, I want to get a good result, but I hope I can keep winning one match at a time,'' he said with a relaxed expression. In the Davis Cup match between Japan and Colombia held in the middle of this month, he won in straight sets against Nicolas Mejia, who was ranked 237th (at the time of the match), but he expressed his disappointment saying, “I couldn't play as well as I wanted.'' The following week, at the Chengdu Open (China, ATP 250), he lost in the first round to 19-year-old Shang Juncheng (China, 67th place at the time). He didn't feel bad in both matches, but his heightened nerves prevented him from playing his best.

■“I played pretty well, so contrary to how I was playing, I started to get nervous. Last week (Chengdu Open), the surface was fast, so I felt like I needed to attack. In the two ATP Challenger tournaments, I sometimes played against players ranked 200th and 300th, and how fast they move and the speed of the balls were different from those of tour-level players, so I had to attack, and I felt that I was able to attack. It became a habit. In the two matches (Davis Cup and Chengdu), I rushed to attack'' said Nishikori. He intends to make use of that reflection in this tournament. "I want to play a little more carefully and calmly. I've been practicing hard the past few days, and I'm starting to get back into shape. I'm starting to feel good."

■In the first round, he will face Marin Cilic (Croatia, 373rd place, entered with protected ranking), who beat him in the final of the 2014 US Open. "He has returned to his (original) play. He is a player with whom I have often competed in important situations, so it's exciting, and he's also a player who is about the same generation as me and has gone through the same challenges (long-term absence due to injury), so I feel good about it. ” said Nishikori. This high-profile match of rivals who have challenged each other to become better will reveal Nishikori's current position as he aims to make a comeback.