"He's a top-class player " says Nadal about Kei Nishikori

Rafael Nadal is a huge fan of Kei Nishikori and his style of play with the Spaniard recently praising the Japanese for what he has done.

Nadal can also sympathize with Nishikori considering they both have a very long list of injuries with impressive careers in spite of that. Nadal obviously has a far better career than Nishikori but according to Nadal Nishikori would have been a consistent threat to win grand slams had he had better luck with injuries in his career. Speaking on the Japanese player Nadal said:

“Needless to say, Kei [Nishikori] is a top-class player who has been on tour for many years. Unfortunately, repeated injuries have put a brake on his success. Without injury, he’s definitely one of the top five players in the world, and he’s a player who [would have consistently reached] the semifinals in Grand Slams.”

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Nishikori did reach a grand slam final (2013 US Open) but against Marin Cilic, he was no match. The Croatian played one of his best matches ever to defeat Nishikori who was a favourite in that match. This praise by Nadal is also something that not many have said publicly as the Japanese player gets overlooked many times. A lot of that comes down to injuries and Nishikori had many. On getting injured Nadal said:

“Injuries also have an element of luck. I think [for] Kei too. He’s a [big picture] player. He’ll be working on everything he can to prevent injuries, such as dietary restraints. The tour puts more strain on the athlete’s body than the average person would imagine. Sometimes it is necessary to strategically decline the tournament to control the load."

Still Nadal believes he has the talent to get back to the top:

“Given his potential, I’m sure he’ll get closer to the top. There’s no doubt about that. If you believe in yourself, devote yourself to training, and, as I said, deal with the load well, you’ll definitely rise again. He’s a player who does.”