He suffered a devastating injury right at his peak in 2017, one that required surgery and threatened to cut his career short. Yet here he was back in action on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2020 US Open, using sparkling defense and an impressive array of tactics en route to an impressive first-round showing.
Sounds like we’re talking about Andy Murray, right? But it's not just the beloved three-time Grand Slam champion, this description also captures the unknown young player who pushed Murray to five sets in the first round, the 49th-ranked Yoshihito Nishioka.
He came back from injury too.
Nishioka ruptured the ACL in his knee at age 21 in 2017. It came just after he’d earned his second Grand Slam win, followed by his first two wins against Top 20 opponents (Jack Sock and Tomas Berdych). He was out for the rest of that season after surgery.
He was playing well in 2020 pre-pandemic.
After reaching the third round of the Australian Open in January, with wins against two higher ranked players (Laslo Djere and Dan Evans), Nishioka reached the final at Delray Beach just before the tennis tours shut down.
He doesn’t get intimidated.
At the 2019 Western & Southern Open, Nishioka had his first win against a Top 10 player, defeating Kei Nishikori, whom Nishioka described as his hero, in the second round. Nishioka advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament but had to withdraw due to illness.
He won’t overpower you.
Nishioka, a lefty who stands at 5-feet-7, relies on speed and defense to outwork opponents. He is able to disguise his forehand well, making it harder to read when he whips deep or short angle cross-court shots, which he did quite effectively against Murray, despite losing, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4, in the close 2020 US Open match.
He knew he’d benefit from the empty stands.
Before the match, Nishioka acknowledged that the lack of people in Arthur Ashe Stadium would benefit him, since Murray, a past champion and also a champion of worthy causes, was a crowd favorite even before mounting a comeback from such a devastating hip injury.
