Kei Nishikori diagnosed with coronavirus

Kei Nishikori (Christopher Johnson, Wikimedia Commons)

Kei Nishikori of Matsue, Japan, the 31st ranked player in the world, has been diagnosed with coronavirus, according to the Associated Press. Nishikori was reportedly in the American state of Florida at the time, and training for the 2020 United States Open, which is set to start on August 31 in Flushing Meadows, New York.

Nishikori will now no longer compete at the Western and Southern Open which is set to start on Saturday. The Masters 1000 Series tournament normally takes place in Cincinnati, but has been moved this year to New York because of coronavirus. Players will now be in the hub of New York City rather than travelling within the United States prior to the major.

Nishikori is best known for being the 2014 U.S. Open men’s singles finalist. In the men’s singles final in Flushing Meadows six years ago, Nishikori lost to Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. However it was the victories en route to the final by Nishikori which deserve high praise. Nishikori beat Canadian Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic in the round of 16, in a match that ended at 2:26 a.m. That was followed by a five-set marathon win over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the quarterfinals, and a miraculous four-set upset win over Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

Nishikori, whose highest ranking is fourth in the world in 2015, has won 12 singles titles in his tennis career. His last tournament title was at the 2019 Brisbane International when he beat Russian rising star Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

In Florida, there have been 588, 602 cases of coronavirus and 10,052 deaths. There are also 519, 184 active cases.

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