Kei Nishikori, runner-up at the 2014 US Open, said he tested negative for COVID-19 after having two positive tests, but has still decided to withdraw from the Grand Slam tournament which begins next week.
Nishikori wrote on his mobile app on Wednesday that he is ready to “slowly” return to training, but not prepared to compete in best-of-five matches.
“After such a long hiatus, I feel that returning to the best of 5 long games is not smart until I am fully ready to do so,” Nishikori’s post said. “It’s disappointing because I love the US Open and have good memories there. I’ll start on clay. Thank you.”
The US Open, on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows, ends on 13 September. Then the tennis tour moves to clay in Europe, with fine-tuning tournaments scheduled before the French Open’s scheduled start on September 27.
Nishikori said on Friday that he tested positive for COVID-19 a second time and had “minimal symptoms”.
The 30-year-old Japanese finished in 4th place and is currently in 31st place, which would have put him in line to be seeded for the US Open.
Nishikori lost in the 2014 final in Flushing Meadows to Marin Cilic and was also a semifinalist in New York in 2016 and 2018.
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