Kei Nishikori’s first Grand Slam appearance in almost three years was curtailed by a shoulder injury that forced him to retire in the second round of the French Open on Thursday.
The former world number 4 threw in the towel after dropping the first two sets to American number 15 Ben Shelton before rain again interrupted a match that started on Wednesday.
“I’ve had shoulder problems for two or three months now and it’s gotten better,” said Nishikori, whose ranking has plummeted to No. 350 after a lengthy injury absence. “I thought I was ready to play for the first round, so I played.”
Nishikori won his opening match at Roland Garros on Sunday, beating Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo in a five-set marathon lasting 4 hours and 22 minutes.
But those efforts took their toll and brought a sad ending to Nishikori’s first Grand Slam appearance since the 2021 US Open.
“Unfortunately, I played five sets and my shoulder wasn’t ready yet,” he said.
“The beginning was okay, but it started to hurt after playing the first set and the second set, and maybe I could play another set, but it started buzzing and started feeling something, sharp pain, so I stopped .”
The 34-year-old Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up, has barely played on the tour in the past two years after a succession of injuries to his hip, ankle and knee.
He used a protected ranking to compete in Paris.
