Kei Nishikori has withdrawn from the first grand slam of the year with a hip injury.
The former US Open champion hasn’t played since his third round Indian Wells defeat to Dan Evans as he has been rehabbing a hip injury.
Although there were positive news coming out of Nishikori’s camp, it seems that his progress hasn’t been enough to make one of his favourite parts of the season.
The Japanese star, who refers to the Australian Open as his home slam, took to social media to announce the news, “A little update from my side that is less positive unfortunately,” Nishikori said on his app and Twitter.
“Since the end of last year I have been struggling with my hip. It is not 100% recovered yet and I will have to pull out of the Aussie swing, This is very disappointing as the Australian Open feels like my “home” grand slam. The Asian Grand Slam.
“I am working hard on my recovery and will do everything I can to be back on the court soon.”
Nishikori will look to return to the court sooner rather than later as he looks to build on the momentum that he picked up towards the end of last season.
Last year Nishikori went out in the opening round of the Australian Open to Pablo Carreno Busta so he won’t lose too many points but will be frustrated not to have used this as an opportunity to gain ranking points.
Next for the world number 47 is a couple of tournaments in America where he will play in Dallas and Delray Beach in February.
