MELBOURNE: A day after Andy Murray put his Grand Slam comeback on hold, Japan’s Kei Nishikori has become the latest high-profile player to withdraw from next month’s Australian Open as he continues to struggle with an elbow injury that has kept him out since the US Open.

Tennis Australia issued a statement on Monday saying Nishikori had withdrawn from the season-opening major at Melbourne Park and from the ATP Cup, a new international men’s team event which starts next week and will be played in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane.

The former world number four, who has slipped to 13, has not played since a third-round loss to Australia’s Alex de Minaur at the US Open and required minor elbow surgery in the off-season.

He said he was disappointed not to be able to begin his season as hoped for in January.

“Today, together with my team, we have made this decision as I’m still not 100% ready (or) healthy to compete at the highest level,” Nishikori said in a statement.

“This decision was not taken lightly as Australia is one of my favourite places to compete. Together with my team I will keep working hard to be back on court as soon as possible. Thanks for all the support.”

Nishikori’s elbow needed surgery in October and he has not played since.

Yoshihito Nishioka will replace him as the top-ranked player in Japan’s ATP Cup team in Perth. Yasutaka Uchiyama also withdrew from the event earlier this week, with Toshihide Matsui called up instead. Japan face Spain, Georgia and Uruguay in Group ‘B’ in Perth.

Nishikori is a four-time Australian Open quarter-finalist (2012, 2015, 2016, 2019) with a 29-7 record at Melbourne Park.

Murray, a three-time major winner, announced Sunday that he had experienced a setback” in his recovery from a pelvic injury and as a precaution would not be coming to Australia in January.

The innovative ATP Cup, from January 3-12, offers $15 million in prize money and a maximum of 750 singles and 250 doubles ATP rankings points in the new men’s warm-up tournament for the opening Grand Slam of the year.

It will see 24 nations split into six groups, with eight teams emerging from the round-robin stage to compete in the knockout phase.

Sydney will host the finals, along with group games which will also be held in Brisbane and Perth.

The Australian Open begins on January 20.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2019