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BSP-05
TENNIS-OPEN-USA-JPN-NISHIKORI-OSAKA-OLY-2020
Nishikori ponders mixed doubles with Osaka at Tokyo Olympics
NEW YORK, Aug 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Japanese dream duo of Naomi Osaka and
Kei Nishikori could come together for mixed doubles at the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics.
World number one Osaka, the reigning US and Australian Open champion, and
Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up ranked seventh in the world, could be a
formidable combination in the fight for gold next year.
But Nishikori, who addressed the idea Friday as he prepared for the start
of the US Open, worried that adding the event to singles and men’s doubles
might be too much in the Tokyo summer heat.
“I will play men’s doubles, for sure. With that condition — very hot, very
humid — playing singles and two doubles, I don’t know if I can,” Nishikori
said.
“I haven’t (had to) think too much yet honestly. I don’t know. I will talk
to Naomi later.”
Nishikori, 29, said it was understandable that 21-year-old Osaka has said
this has been a tough year for her. She followed her US Open triumph with an
Australian Open win, attained number one then lost and regained — enduring
early exits at the French Open and Wimbledon along the way.
“I’m sure it’s going to be OK. I think time will help her to get back to
normal,” Nishikori said.
“I think it’s normal to have that feeling. She suddenly gets number one,
winning two Grand Slams, be number one like straightaway. She’s still young.
“I’m sure she will think a lot of things — some things she doesn’t have to
think. But if she can try hard practicing and play every match hard, I think
she’s going to be OK.”
Osaka said a recent break from tennis helped revive her outlook on the game
and her place in it.
“It has definitely changed for me,” Osaka said. “I took a break sort of and
relaxed my mind and realized that you have to have fun doing what you love.
“For me, I love tennis. Sometimes I feel like I don’t, but I wake up every
morning and if I don’t play, I feel like I’ve done nothing during the day.
“I just go out now every day trying to learn something new, trying to just
do the best that I can.”
Osaka resisted the notion her life is a dream made real, even with two
Grand Slams and a top ranking before her 22nd birthday.
“I’m really blessed to be in this position, and then there are bad things
that come with that,” Osaka said. “I would never say anything negative about
what’s going on in my life right now.
“For me, when you say is it a dream, it’s like something fluffy, like
you’re on the beach somewhere sipping a pina colada. I’m right here right
now.”
– Confident Nishikori –
Nishikori pondered his own growth and fan base in Japan, wondering if he
could have produced the same success under the attention and pressure of
living in Japan.
“I have to say, if I lived in Japan, I think I was going to have a
different life,” he said. “There’s too much attention. I feel like I’m a star
there. But I think it’s good thing that I live in States.”
Nishikori says the US Open always brings excitement and nerve. He produced
his best Grand Slam result here five years ago, losing the final to Marin
Cilic, and reached the semi-finals in 2016 and 2018.
“I feel a lot of confidence from that memory, playing final first time in
Grand Slam. But also I always think that I could play a little better in a
final. I lost straight sets. I didn’t do well. I hope I can come back to that
stage again. I hope I can play differently.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0957 hrs