Luckless Nishikori faces injury deja vu at Wimbledon

It proves "Energy" drink alone doesn't help.

he seems to withdraw from every other tournament with some sort of nagging injury. I think he's on the soft side

Cilic is beatable too. He is one of those bubbling under type of players that gets to the Quarterfinals/Semifinals with an upset along the way then disappears. Nishikori missed a golden opportunity with Djokovic being ousted and who knows if this will happen again anytime soon.

He shouldn't have even started the match, imo. When you don't have a chance to win, and take further risk of more injury, it's flat out stupid to play. I believe he was out there with the be brave ploy, but it was a fool's attempt.

Unfortunately, his physical stature cannot handle the obvious difference in today's tennis big boys. Had he been around, with his skill, say, when Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe were around, he'd be a true champion, but fact is, he's not strong enough for his body to hold up, against the behemoths of 2016 tennis.

I like the guy, he's certainly one of the greatest Japanese sportsmen, and has the personality to be an international star. I do think he succumbs to the Japanese idol worship problems that plague any person who is recognized as a world talent...a true talent, not that fake ones that pervade Japan. Good luck to his recovery, and hope he can be 100% for the U.S. Open.

I like the guy but at least now TENNIS fans can watch the rest of the tournament in peace.

It's a shame to drop out due to injury, but would he have kept going if he was doing well? Sorry, but this whole article reads as a complete and utter excuse. If it had just said that he had to quit because of injury that would be one thing, but instead all of Cilic's excellent work is "the result of Nishikori's injury", not because of the former's skill. Cilic's victory, as DaDude points out, is also not because of his own energy and playing, but because Nishikori was not up to par. BS! If his injury was so bad, he should not have played to begin with, but what a tune we'd be hearing if he had been winning and playing with said injury! It wouldn't be "Bad luck" as though all the rain delays made the ball heavier and him lose, it would be the "samurai spirit propelling him forward despite injury", etc.

Like I said, shame that he had to quit a game he was losing based on injury, but leave it at that for the love of Pete -- don't undermine his opponent's playing and milk the injury. Other players get injured to and have to quit, like Federer, and we don't hear hours upon hours of "bad luck" or how he could have won, how lucky the other player is, etc.

I do agree with DaDude, though, that it as a great chance with Djokovic out. Oh well.

He's injury prone, no doubt about it. I suspect it's because he has to push himself so hard in training (both on court and in the gym) just to keep up with the naturally bigger boys that he is straining his body - and the human body can only take so much before it starts breaking..... Anyway, I'm so glad Djoko went out early this year and Wimbers has been thrown wide open. Raonic, Murray, Tsonga, Federer are all in with a great chance!

Sorry, but this whole article reads as a complete and utter excuse. yeah the book of excuses pages are almost all torn out by now. Ive stated it many times before, being a smaller guy he has to work that little bit harder, run that little bit faster, jump that little bit higher to keep up with the bigger more powerful guys. Hewitt had very similar problems throughout his career. Having these type of injuries at his age doesn't look positive on his playing future. If your mind, body, skill and training is not up to par then sadly you won't become a great player.

Nishikori has the same problem as his coach Chan had his career. An over emphasis on a power stroke that sees him torquing his back on nearly every forehand shot. I wish I could coach him for a year and get him to play a control game. A really gifted player but being given the wrong game plan year after year.

He was serving at second serve speed from the start. After retiring so many times in his career he had to show up. Long string of injuries from hip, calf,back,elbow ankle and now ribs. The dude is soft. Not going to last much longer in the top ten. I'll be really surprised if he makes it into the tour finals at the end of the year.

Cilic's victory, as DaDude points out, is also not because of his own energy and playing, but because Nishikori was not up to par.

How do you translate my whole comment as Nishikori losing because he wasn't up to par? Cilic IS beatable and no matter who won this match will be smoked by Federer in the next round. Willing to put down an unfriendly wager?

DaDude: "Cilic IS beatable and no matter who won this match will be smoked by Federer in the next round. "

THAT is how your comment is what it is -- you suggested Nishikori could have beaten him, but he did not. He was already losing when he forfeited. Doesn't matter if Cilic is beatable, as so is Nishikori, easily. Or, am I wrong and did you also go into this same match saying, "Nishikori is beatable"? (without falling back on the injury).

I mean we're already seeing body size coming back up as the excuse again (despite Nishikori having beaten bigger players before), so why not throw on a few more?

Bad luck for Kei, on his least favorite surface, can understand the injuries, the ATP schedule is very demanding espescially with the olympics this year, federer been injured quite a bit this year as has Tsonga and Gasquet, who retired yesterday with a back spasm, not to mention the best of 5 sets, compared to the other tournaments, just has to get some rest and prepare himself for Brazil, if he's going?? and then get ready for the US Open series, he' s most favored surface..

An over emphasis on a power stroke that sees him torquing his back on nearly every forehand shot. I wish I could coach him for a year and get him to play a control game.

Are you sure he is not attempting to control as well? Could it be just that as 7sky7 says

he's not strong enough for his body to hold up, against the behemoths of 2016 tennis.

....so that he has to torque his back to meet their power. I am a fan but he seems to be working himself too hard ("muri wo shiteiru"). Perhaps he could cut down the number of tournaments, perhaps Wimbledon only next year, and go guts on the grass and win!

Cilic was the 9th seed and has obviously beaten Nishikori before, so he may have beaten Nishikori even if he were in peak condition.

I guess he didn't want to give up on his goal of making the QF but he should have thrown in the towel sooner, for himself but also the spectators and Cilic. No one enjoys watching someone play injured on a hiding to nothing, and the opposing player is put in an nasty position too.

He'll be injured again in future too no doubt, so hope he learns from this experience.

But get well soon and good luck next time!

fxgai: "so he may have beaten Nishikori even if he were in peak condition."

Again, reducing Cilic's performance to winning because Nishikori was injured. Rather sad, really. What you guys SHOULD be saying is not that Cilic "might have won if Nishikori were not injured" is that perhaps Nishikori could have won if he was not injured. Cilic was winning before Nishikori bailed; don't undermine the man's skill by suggesting he mightn't have won otherwise. His seeding doesn't matter. He was creaming Nishikori, and I doubt that was solely because of the injury -- we just know the injury is why he quit while he was BEHIND.

"But get well soon and good luck next time!"

That we can agree on, though you guys have already set up the excuse that "he'll be injured again in future", in case he loses.

Seriously... it ceases to be a shame he had to quit through injury when there are so many excuses made and undermining Cilic's performance.

Cilic commented that he noticed Nishikori was barely hitting his serve and that it was a difficult situation for Nishikori and he said he felt bad for him in his post match interview. It would have been better if Nishikori had retired after the first few games when it was clear he couldn't compete. Nishikori leads their H2H winning 7 of their last 10 matches but this is grass and Nishikori would have had to play at his very best to have a chance against that big serve. If Cilic can keep hammering that serve he can cause all kinds of problems for Federer. It should be an interesting match but I'll still go with Federer finding a way to win.

Tsuchifumazu: "If Cilic can keep hammering that serve he can cause all kinds of problems for Federer. It should be an interesting match but I'll still go with Federer finding a way to win."

Agreed, but then again, there have been numerous upsets already (Nishikori not being one of them), especially with Querrey's win over Djokovic.

Exactly. Querrey also has a monster serve with 31 aces in the Djokovic match. Served himself out of trouble a number of times to give himself a chance. But Fed has a tough serve as well. Fed can mix up the pace with his slice backhand, try to keep Cilic off balance with some drop shots and bring the big guy up to the net. Granted if Fed is content with pounding strokes from the back court with Cilic and Cilic can get to Feds backhand then he has a good chance for an upset.

2̶0̶1̶4̶ ̶ 2̶0̶1̶5̶ ̶ 2̶0̶1̶6̶ 2017 is going to be Nishikori's breakthrough year in terms of GS.

randomnator:

Nishikori has the same problem as his coach Chan had his career.

Yeah, a problem that included bagging a French Open by the time he was 17, and reaching another three GS finals before 25.

not sure 'luck' has anything to do with it. Look at Ichiro. 42 years old and still going strong. rarely gets injured, hasn't put on any weight over the years. the guy is truly a marvel.