ATP Tour

Shimabukuro, new to the Top 100, on emulating idol Federer on Halle grass

Sho Shimabukuro is celebrating his rise into the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings by treading in the footsteps of one of his idols this week at the Terra Wortmann Open.

The 28-year-old Japanese on Tuesday notched a win on debut at the grass-court ATP 500, where a certain Roger Federer is a record 10-time champion. Shimabukuro stepped out onto the Halle grass for his first match as a Top 100 player and went on to outlast World No. 40 Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 for just his ninth tour-level victory.

“It is very exciting to think that he played here,” the World No. 97 Shimabukuro told ATPTour.com in Japanese, when asked about competing on the same courts that Federer came to dominate. “I will continue to work hard to reach his level. I would like to play in a way the audience and fans will be excited about.”

At 28 years of age, Shimabukuro’s entrance into the Top 100 has been hard earned. He has racked up 108 wins at ATP Challenger level, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, a tally that includes five title runs. He sealed his rise into the Top 100 last week at the BOSS OPEN in Stuttgart, where he downed Quentin Halys and 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios to reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final.

“I’m so happy,” Shimabukuro said in Halle. “It’s a special moment for me and my team and my family. But this is not my goal, it is just the beginning. I just play… Being Top 100 is the same feeling as before and I’m fighting the same. It’s not different.”

Up 11 spots to No. 86 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings after reaching the second round in Halle, Shimabukuro is currently the highest-ranked Japanese man. In that sense, he is linked to another one of his tennis idols: former World No. 4 and 12-time tour-level champion Kei Nishikori, who has long been the spearhead of Japanese tennis and is this year playing his final season on the ATP Tour.

“Nishikori is my hero,” Shimabukuro said. “I will do my best to emulate his wonderful career… Because I made it into the Top 100, I can feel more positive about my tennis.”

Shimabukuro’s next step in his pursuit of a further push up the PIF ATP Rankings will take place in Halle on Wednesday afternoon, when he will take on former Top-10 star Frances Tiafoe for a quarter-final spot. The pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting is scheduled for not before 1 p.m. local time in north-west Germany.