Kei Nishikori is adamant about returning to tennis admitting that Roger Federer inspired him to keep playing the sport.
Nishikori has deal with so many injuries it's not even worth writing them all down. It would take too much, yet despite facing some many problems he's been able to carve out a decent career and is still adamant about playing.
Rafael Nadal famously said that Kei Nishikori is one of the best players in the world when he's at his best yet his body betrayed him far too many times. He's not ready to call it quits yet despite thinking about it:
"I casually mentioned that I thought about retirement, but afterwards I
realized it would go into headlines, I was like, oops, I blew it. It was honest feeling, so I might not be able to hide it, or I might express it to wash away my gloomy feeling, I don’t know."
He added:
“I’ve made much effort and it’s a shame to bring it to naught due to
injury. I’m not sure if this is the right way to say it, but I feel like
I’m kinda talented and I have reached the position that not so many
people can reach, that makes me feel like it’s too good to give up."
He further admitted that seeing Federer keep battling and playing until he was 40 was inspiring:
"If my career-high ranking were 100, I might not have thought like
that, and it would be disappointing to end my career due to injury. Federer played tennis until 40, soI think I can keep playing five more years at the least and seven more years at the most.”