Kei Nishikori is the latest player to end his 2017 season early due to a wrist injury according to his management team.
The former US Open finalist suffered the injury while preparing for the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. Earlier in the week, Nishikori confirmed he hurt his wrist during one of his training sessions.
“[On Sunday] during practice I felt a sharp pain in my right wrist and we are now visiting with the medical specialists to discuss the diagnosis. We will provide more details after we have more information.” Nishikori said.
Following a medical assessment, it has now been confirmed that the Japanese player has damaged a tendon in his right wrist, ruling him out for the rest of the year. He will not undergo surgery to repair the issue, but Nishikori will receive another evaluation ‘in the next weeks‘ once the swelling goes down.
“Two days ago during practice in Cincinnati, Kei hit a serve and heard a ‘pop’ in his wrist.” A statement from Nishikori’s management outlined.
“We went straight to the hospital to take an MRI. Yesterday, we went to see a very renowned wrist specialist who works with many of the MLB baseball pitchers.
“We saw another specialist today to get a second opinion. On top of that we have sent MRI results to three other wrist specialists to ensure we get several independent opinions from specialists.
“After consulting with all of them, it has become clear that Kei has a tear in one of the tendons in the right wrist.
“At this stage we have elected not to do surgery and Kei is in a cast. After the swelling comes down in the next weeks, we will evaluate next steps. Kei will withdraw from all the 2017 tournaments and work hard to be ready for next year.”
Nishikori ends his season without a title for the first time since 2011. He has played 43 matches on the tour, winning 30 of those. Nishikori’s best performance was reaching the final of tournaments in Brisbane and Buenos Aires.
The 27-year-old follows in the footsteps of Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka in ending his season early. Djokovic is currently nursing an elbow injury and Wawrinka recently underwent surgery on his knee. Current world No.1 Andy Murray is also out of action due to an hip issue, but is expected to play in the US Open.
