Kei Nishikori explains why he had to change his service motion

Struggling with injuries, Kei Nishikori played only nine matches between the US Open 2019 and Rotterdam 2021, losing seven of those and the last four he entered.

After a slow start to the new season, Kei scored two wins in Rotterdam against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur, advancing to his first quarter-final since Wimbledon 2019 and feeling happy about his game and the changes he implemented.

"I changed my service motion after elbow surgery in October 2019, and again last December. I was working with Max Mirnyi, Michael Chang and a Japanese coach, trying to add more power to my initial shot while stressing my shoulder less than before.

I had to do something after injuring my shoulder last year; it's still not at 100%, but I'm on the right way. I was hitting good serves in the past two matches against Auger-Aliassime and de Minaur, and I'm happy with my serve now.

Because of my history with injury, I still need to change something if I have time and if I have the chance. I'm open to anything. Of course, it's not easy, and it's going to take some time. I still feel like it's not there yet.

But for my body, I will do anything that makes it better. I've been having a really tough time with injury, and I'm happy to be in the quarter-finals of this strong event. I need to keep going and be ready for the next encounter," Kei Nishikori said.