In what will come as a shock to tennis fans, Japanese star player Kei Nishikori will not play the Delray Beach Open 2021. The tournament will take place from January 7 – 13, 2021, and Florida will host the tournament.

Kei Nishikori, who celebrated his 31st birthday, will now directly play in the ATP Cup 2021. He was earlier about to begin his 2021 season at the Delray Beach Open 2021. However, he will now kick off his season at the ATP Cup 2021.

“News. I will not play at Delray. I will start 2021 with ATP Cup,” informed Nishikori.

The reason for his sudden withdrawal from the tournament is unclear at the moment. However, many are assuming that it happened during his preparations for the Australian Open 2021.

Kei Nishikori in 2020

Former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori had quite a poor season in 2020. He began his season at the Canadian Open, where Richard Gasquet defeated him in the very first game. He was trying to make a comeback at the Canadian Open after the Wimbledon Championships 2019, but things unfortunately didn’t end in the manner he would have wanted them to.

In the Cincinnati Masters too, he lost to fellow countryman Yoshihito in the very first round. He gained some momentum at the US Open 2020, but Alex De Minaur got past him in the third round.

His poor performances continued at the Italian Open and German Open 2020 too. He was really struggling and was not able to find his form after his return.

Nishikori survived a really close match against Dan Evans in the first round at the French Open 2020. However, he lost a nail-biting encounter against Stefano Travaglia in the second round.

Overall, Nishikori hasn’t looked like the player he used to be. However, fans believe that Nishikori will find his rhythm soon and emerge strong. Will Kei Nishikori be able to bounce back in 2021?

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