Kei Nishikori is riding major momentum into this year’s US Open. The World No. 7 reached the final at the Rogers Cup in Toronto (l. to Djokovic), a result which helped him clinch the 2016 US Open Series men’s title. 

“I think I have been playing well this summer,” said Nishikori in his pre-tournament press conference on Friday ahead of the US Open. “I took a couple of days off after Cincinnati, and physically I’m feeling good.

“If I can carry that confidence from the summer I think I will have a good chance to go further these two weeks.”

Two years ago at the US Open was Nishikori’s Grand Slam breakthrough. The Japanese star barrelled his way through the draw, defeating Milos Raonic (fourth round), Stan Wawrinka (quarter-finals) and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic (semi-finals) en route to the championship match. Making history by becoming the first Asian man ever to play for the title at a Grand Slam, Nishikori’s quest was halted by Marin Cilic in straight sets.

“I have great memories,” he said. “Things changed a lot also for me… I think I’m a little more patient and playing much better than last year, two years ago.”

The 26 year old from Japan will look to erase memories of last year’s US Open campaign. He was ousted in the first round by then-World No. 41 Benoit Paire in five sets. This year, as the sixth seed, he opens his campaign against Germany’s Benjamin Becker. 

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“He has a great serve, [he’s an] aggressive player,” said Nishikori, who leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head record 2-1. “[It’s] not going to be easy, but I hope I can have great preparation these few days and [be] ready for Monday.”

Novak Djokovic could have a tricky start to defending his US Open championship, and it won’t get any easier later for the Serbian in New York, where main draw play starts on Monday.

The top seed and two-time champion (2011, 2015) will open against former World No. 14 and 2013 Wimbledon semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz. In the second round, Djokovic could face one of the five players to gain a win against him this season: Czech Jiri Vesely, who beat Djokovic in the second round at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in April.

From there, the Belgrade native could meet 28^th seed Martin Klizan for the third time. Djokovic beat the Slovakian twice on hard courts last season.

If the seeds maintain, Frenchman Richard Gasquet, 13^th seed, or 20^th seed John Isner could challenge the Serbian in the fourth round. But both players have enticing first-round contests: Isner plays American wild card Frances Tiafoe; Gasquet meets #NextGen star Kyle Edmund of Britain. Another all-American, first-round clash will take place in the same quarter when 26^th seed Jack Sock meets #NextGen star Taylor Fritz.

Read More: Roddick, Blake, Courier Optimistic About American Prospects

Croatian Marin Cilic, 2014 US Open champion, could meet Djokovic in the quarter-finals. Seventh seed Cilic heads to New York playing some of his best tennis since he captured his first Grand Slam championship two years ago. The 6’6” right-hander beat Andy Murray last week in Cincinnati to take his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

In the semi-finals, fans could see the 50^th installment of Djokovic v. Rafael Nadal. The 29-year-old right-hander has won their past seven encounters.

Fourth seed Nadal debuts against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin and could face Frenchman Stephane Robert or Italian Andreas Seppi in the second round. The Spaniard’s first seeded opponent could be countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the 31^st seed, in the third round. Another Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, the 15^th seed, or 24^th seed Lucas Pouille of France might meet Nadal in the fourth round.

Tenth seed Gael Monfils or fifth seed Milos Raonic could battle Nadal in the last eight. Both Monfils and Raonic open against hard-charging, big servers: Monfils plays Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller; Raonic plays Germany’s Dustin Brown.

On the other half of the draw, second seed Andy Murray, 2012 US Open champion, opens against the Czech Lukas Rosol and could meet Spaniard Marcel Granollers or Argentine Juan Monaco in the second round.

The Brit’s first seeded opponent could be 30^th seed Gilles Simon in the third round. Murray leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 14-2. Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, 16^th seed, or 22^nd seed Grigor Dimitrov might meet Murray in the fourth round. This year’s Emirates US Open Series champion Kei Nishikori could greet Murray in the last eight.

Read More: Nishikori Claims Bonus Challenge

Awaiting Murray in the semi-finals could be third seed Stan Wawrinka, but the Swiss will have to fight past a difficult early stretch. He opens against World No. 47 Fernando Verdasco, who beat Wawrinka on grass at the Aegon Championships in June. American Denis Kudla or a qualifier will await in the second round, and Wawrinka might have to face #NextGen star Alexander Zverev in the third round. Aussie Nick Kyrgios, the 14^th seed, or 17^th seed Bernard Tomic could await in the fourth round. If the seeds play out, eighth seed Dominic Thiem would be Wawrinka’s quarter-final opponent.

Juan Martin del Potro, 2009 US Open champion, returns to New York by wild card and debuts against fellow Argentine Diego Schwartzman. Del Potro could meet 19^th seed and top American Steve Johnson in the second round. Spanish veteran David Ferrer, the 11^th seed, could await in the third round before del Potro might face Thiem in the Round of 16.

World No. 7 and 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori clinched the 2016 Emirates US Open Series men’s title on Thursday, following Viktor Troicki’s victory over Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-finals of the Winston-Salem Open. Nishikori will now attempt to to claim the largest payout in tennis history at the US Open – $4.5 million; $3.5 million for winning the US Open and a $1 million bonus for winning the US Open as Emirates Airline US Open Series champion.

Nishikori finishes the Bonus Challenge with 85 points – 70 for reaching the Rogers Cup final in Toronto and 15 for advancing to the Round of 16 at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Verdasco was the only remaining player in Winston-Salem who could have overtaken him in the final standings.

Grigor Dimitrov finishes second in the men’s Bonus Challenge, while 2014 Emirates Airline US Open Series men’s champion Milos Raonic finishes third. Both players tied with 70 points; Dimitrov finishes second based on tie-breaks, having won seven matches in the series this summer, as opposed to Raonic’s five. The second and third-placed finishers will compete for US Open bonus payouts of $500,000 and $250,000, respectively.

Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic each earned 100 points for their Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open victories, respectively. Players must earn points in two or more Emirates Airline US Open Series events to be eligible for the final Bonus Challenge standings and US Open bonus prize money.

John Millman scored a milestone win at the Winston-Salem Open on Thursday, downing top seed Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-3 to move into his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final. The 92-minute win also marked the first time Millman has beaten a player in the Top 15 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. The Aussie, who reached a career-best No. 60 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in May, is currently ranked No. 81.

“No matter what level, every tournament I go in to compete, to do my best and to win,” said Millman, who is taking part in the event for the first time. “To be honest, at the start of the week I was a bit busted physically because of the long weeks at the Olympics and in Cincinnati. But now I’m moving great and I’m hitting the ball really well. It’s a treat to be here. The conditions are great and suit my game well.

“Gasquet is a top player. Playing and beating him is very satisfying. Every week that I’m playing an ATP World Tour event, I gain more confidence that I can compete at this level, and I’m proud of that,” the 27-year-old Millman, who broke the Frenchman five times during the match, said. “Everyone remaining in the tournament is an accomplished player. Every win is a bonus for me right now.”

Millman will next face Pablo Carreno Busta, who topped Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-3. The Spaniard fired nine aces and saved all seven break points faced to advance in 85 minutes. Millman beat Carreno Busta in the first round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Miami earlier this year. It was the pair’s lone previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

No. 2 seed Roberto Bautista Agut is safely through to the semi-finals after beating Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-2. Bautista Agut did not face a break point in the 61-minute win and broke Lu three times. The Spaniard improved to 3-0 in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry and has yet to drop a set against the man from Chinese Taipei. The 28 year old is seeking a third ATP World Tour title in 2016, having prevailed in Auckland and in Sofia.

Day 3 of US Open Qualifying on Thursday saw a NextGen star move within one round of qualifying for his first Grand Slam main draw, while a slew of other notable players also won their second-round qualifying matches.

NextGen star and third seed Karen Khachanov of Russia continued his impressive play with a straight-sets win over Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain, 6-4, 6-3. The 20 year old fired nine aces and won 73 per cent of his first serve points in the match.

“It’s always tough to find your way at the beginning of a tournament and get through the first couple of matches,” said Khachanov. “But I’ve been able to adapt to to the situation, so I’m happy that I get to play again tomorrow.”

Khachanov has advanced to the final round of qualifying this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, but has yet to qualify for a Grand Slam in his young career. He’ll next play the winner of the match between NextGen star Noah Rubin of the U.S. and No. 28 seed Michael Berrer of Germany for a chance to make his maiden main draw at a major.

“It would be unbelievable for me to make it into the main draw here,” said Khachanov. “I just have to focus on my game tomorrow and show that I deserve it.”

Several other players also won their second-round qualifying matches to put themselves in contention to make their debut Grand Slam main draw: No. 15 seed Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia, No. 26 seed Saketh Myneni of India, Guilherme Clezar of Brazil, Ilya Ivashka of Belarus, Alexander Sarkissian of the U.S., Jan Satral of the Czech Republic, Marton Fucsovics of Hungary and Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland.

Mid-match showers saw play suspended with half of the 32 second-round qualifying matches still to be completed. Among the players on court when the rain came are No. 12 seed Joao Souza of Brazil, No. 13 seed Dennis Novikov of the U.S. and Rubin.

Players still to come on court for their matches on Thursday include top seed Yuichi Sugita of Japan, NextGen star and No. 14 seed Jared Donaldson of the U.S. and rising American teenager Reilly Opelka.

Rafael Nadal arrived in New York last Sunday to prepare for the US Open, which begins on 29 August at Flushing Meadows. The Mallorcan, who returned to the ATP World Tour in Cincinnati after overcoming a left wrist injury, goes into the tournament excited after his time on the sidelines.

“I need to keep competing and training,” explained Nadal in an interview with EL ESPAÑOL. “I went a long time without training. That’s the reality. I think that is what I need at the moment.”

The 14-time Grand Slam champion had to withdraw from the third round at Roland Garros due to a left wrist injury, which caused him to miss several tournaments including Wimbledon.

“My wrist is fine,” said Nadal. “It has held up through many hours of playing. I know I’m going to have some trouble and, in some moments, it will limit me a bit. I need to get my confidence back and get through a few weeks without playing in pain, something that hasn’t happened yet.

“It never gets easier to come back,”said Nadal, who has overcome serious injuries to his foot and knees earlier in his career. “I was playing very well when I had to stop in the third round at Roland Garros. You remember the things that you were doing well. The bad thing, of course, is that I had to stop in a moment when I was doing well and which could have helped me have a great season, especially after a good clay-court swing.

“The injury I had is very complicated and delicate,” he said. “There are two possibilities: either it gets better with rest or you have to operate. At the moment, it seems everything has gone well, but at the same time it could have turned out differently and I might have had to stop for surgery. I hope things keep going well. So far, after many hours of loading the wrist, it hasn’t gotten worse. This is important and very positive. I hope that day by day and week by week the wrist will keep feeling more comfortable and I will feel freer when hitting the ball.”

Nadal arrives at the US Open hoping for a good tournament despite not enjoying the same competitive rhythm as his rivals.

“Clearly, I’m arriving with little match practice after an injury in the middle of the season,” said Nadal. “All this makes it more difficult. But the excitement is there. I hope my wrist will keep improving, so that it lets me play my forehand more freely.  I am really excited to get back to competing. I feel competitive again. I’m really looking forward to playing and enjoying being on the court.”