Kei Nishikori reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the Australian Open this year. Stephane Mahe / Reuters
Kei Nishikori reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the Australian Open this year. Stephane Mahe / Reuters

Kei Nishikori admits ‘doubts about decision’ to give US Open a go



US Open 10th seed Kei Nishikori remains concerned over his fitness following a three-week injury break with the Japanese raising doubts about his prospects of making it past the first round in New York.

The world No 11 skipped the Masters tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati after having a cyst removed from his right toe earlier this month and has just resumed training ahead of the final grand slam of the season starting next week.

“I had doubts about my decision (to play at the US Open) but I am going to take a chance,” the Kyodo news agency quoted Nishikori as telling reporters in New York on Friday.

“However, to be honest I have some concerns about my physical fitness.”

The injury-prone 24-year-old, the first Japanese to break into the top 10 of the men’s singles rankings, lost to Briton Daniel Evans in the first round of the US Open last year.

This year he will play 180th-ranked American Wayne Odesnik in the opening round.

“I haven’t had match practice and I don’t know if I will be able to keep up when it comes to quick movement,” Nishikori added. “If the pain comes back on the day of the game I don’t know if I will play.

“I don’t know if I will be able to get through the first round.”

Nishikori’s best performance at Flushing Meadows came in 2008 when he reached the fourth round as an 18-year-old.

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US households add $601bn of debt in 2019

American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.

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