Nishikori never checks draws: 'It’s more healthy for me'

Kei Nishikori thrives on surprise by not looking at draws.

Heading into this week’s Arizona Tennis Classic, an ATP Challenger 175 event, the Japanese star has no idea who his first-round opponent is, though Nishikori does have some boundaries: he never walks onto the match court without knowing.

“I always do this because it’s easy for me, like I don’t want to think too much before I’m going to sleep. It’s more healthy for me,” Nishikori told ATPTour.com in Phoenix. “Usually my coach tells me the day before I’m playing or the same day, in the morning. Or I see it on the news, or in an interview, they will tell me.”

No overthinking, no stress. Just find out, show up, and play. The Japanese star has not always been wired this way, but it has been a part of his regimen for roughly a decade.

Nishikori will eventually learn that his first-round opponent in Phoenix is Italian Luca Nardi, who the 35-year-old defeated in the Helsinki Challenger championship match just four months ago. That win closed out Nishikori’s 2024 season and earned him his eighth Challenger title.

The former No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings built upon that momentum in the opening week of 2025, reaching an ATP 250 final in Hong Kong.

“Starting from end of last year, I think I’ve been playing well. I won a Challenger and started feeling more confident and started playing more solid,” said Nishikori, currently No. 76 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “I thought I had a good start to the year, but I kind of struggled in Dallas and in Delray, I didn’t play well. I kind of lost all my confidence, but I had a good practice the last two weeks and coming into Indian Wells, I had a good match playing well again.

“I’m happy with my level right now and at the same time I have to be healthy and feel good to be on Tour.”

Nishikori’s first of 12 tour-level titles came when he was an 18-year-old competing at the Delray Beach Open. At the time, Nishikori had yet to win a Challenger title, a rare feat as most players work through the ATP Challenger Tour before entering the winner’s circle on the ATP Tour.

“That was weird,” Nishikori recalled with a laugh. “I won a 250 before winning a Challenger!”

Nishikori found another place in the Challenger record books in 2023. After a 20-month hiatus due to injury, he made a stunning return at the Palmas del Mar Challenger, clinching the title and becoming the first unranked player to win a trophy at that level since 2000.

But put the past accolades in the rearview and set aside the draw sheet as well, Nishikori is focussed on this week’s task at hand — one match at a time at the Phoenix Country Club.

^{Kei Nishikori during media day at the Arizona Tennis Classic. Credit: ImagenShop Agencia Fotográfica/ATC}