Carlos Alcaraz ‘looks like Rafael Nadal but he has more speed’, says Kei Nishikori on ATP Tour return in Atlanta

Kei Nishikori says he doesn’t think tennis has “seen anyone like Carlos Alcaraz before” and has compared him to Rafael Nadal but with “more speed”.

Alcaraz, 20, has taken the tennis world by storm over the last two years, winning two Grand Slam titles and reaching world No. 1.

Earlier this month he cemented his place as the game’s biggest young star by beating Novak Djokovic in a thrilling Wimbledon final.

Nishikori made a winning return to the ATP Tour in Atlanta this week after 21 months out with injury.

He says the prospect of facing Alcaraz – along with other rising stars like Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner – helped fuel his comeback.

“That’s part of my motivation to try to play for a few more years.

“I don’t think we have seen anyone like Alcaraz before. He looks like Rafa but he has more speed.

“Good defence, unbelievable forehand and he has a good backhand too.”

Before making his return in Atlanta, Nishikori last played at the top level at Indian Wells in October 2021.

He had hip surgery the following January and then saw several comeback attempts aborted by injury issues, including an ankle problem that ended his chances of playing in 2022.

He has revealed how the decision to undergo hip surgery saw him avoid the same fate as Andy Murray, who has been playing with a metal hip for several years.

“My hip was not too bad, not like Andy,” Nishikori said.

“We shaved some bone away and also I had a little bit of a tear in the labrum. Had I kept playing without the surgery then I may have had to do something like Andy did. But fortunately, I found out before it got really bad.

“I talked to James Duckworth, who had the same surgery and I was really surprised how quickly he came back to playing. But he told me that he had some issues, so perhaps he came back too early. I decided to take a little more time.

“One of my biggest doubts was whether I would be able to move like I used to. And also that you lose the feeling for the ball on the racquet and you have zero confidence. You’ve got to build again from zero, so it’s a tough mental challenge.”

Nishikori will next play qualifier Shang Juncheng on Thursday.

“I’m just so happy to be back here playing,” he added.

“I have zero pressure and can play free. I’m just having fun on the court. And I’m excited to be playing against the top guys again.

“I have had a good team around me and I’m very thankful that [coaches] Max [Mirnyi,] and Michael [Chang] kept encouraging me. They still believe in me and I believe it too.”

After Atlanta, Nishikori is set to play at the ATP 500 Citi Open in Washington DC as he builds up to a return at the US Open, where he lost in the final in 2014 to Marin Cilic. If he plays in New York it will be his first Grand Slam appearance in two years.

Nishikori is currently ranked at No. 439 in the world.