You Think Kei Is Popular Now?

Kei Nishikori can fill a stadium without even playing a match. Anyone who had imagined that the Japanese public’s love and hysteria for Nishikori couldn’t possibly become any more intense – that peak-Kei had already been established – was made to reconsider during this season’s Tokyo tournament. That was when one of his practice sessions drew an audience of more than 9,000.

That figure even astounded some of the tournament’s organisers (who have seen some hysteria in their time, having previously not publicised his training schedule for fear of a crush). It would seem we have reached a new level of intensity in the relationship between Nishikori and his public – you suspect that crowds will now gather in Tokyo if all he is doing is tidying his drink bottles, or tying and retying his shoelaces. And you think it’s going to stop here? Already the most celebrated Asian player in history, and someone who can’t go anywhere in Japan without some “craziness”, Nishikori seemingly still has some way to travel when it comes to his fame and celebrity.

Why, winning this week’s Barclays ATP Worlds Tour Finals, which would be the most significant title of his tennis life, would only add to his standing in Japan, where he will be one of the faces of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo (which will only mean more billboards, magazine covers, television commercials and social media buzz). There are dozens of Japanese journalists in Greenwich who are covering every move that Nishikori makes, on and off this indoor hard court: Whatever happens in London will captivate millions in Tokyo and beyond, especially in Shimane, where he was born.

It’s sometimes said that Andy Murray has more pressure loaded on to his shoulders, and into his racquet bag, than any other truly elite player on the ATP World Tour. After all, he’s the only one who is the prime focus at a home Grand Slam, with Wimbledon such a stressful experience for him that during the run-in he often breaks out in mouth ulcers.

But, for all that, it’s a moot point whether it’s Murray or Nishikori who has to deal with the greatest scrutiny and expectation from his nation. Imagine if Murray stumbled through his opening round at Wimbledon, and then retired from his second match because of injury, and you can appreciate the levels of despair and disappointment in Tokyo last month as that’s how Nishikori’s tournament played out. Like Murray, Nishikori’s development as a tennis player has included learning to be comfortable as a public figure. No wonder, then, that Nishikori bases himself in Florida – where he can stroll the streets without a disguise – to protect himself from the madness: “It’s difficult in Tokyo – I have to wear sunglasses, a hat, a mask, everything.”

According to his coach Michael Chang, Nishikori is naturally “on the shy, quiet side – although he does become a bit more talkative around his Japanese friends”. “For the most part, I just tell Kei that dealing with the pressure is just part of the territory for being one of the best in the world,” says Chang. “You need to find a balance in your life and to keep things in perspective. You have to ask yourself how important it is what everyone else is saying about you. And, more importantly, you have to ask yourself how much pressure you’re putting on yourself, and whether that’s the right thing to be doing.”

Nishikori’s fame grew quickly in 2014 when he became the first Asian man to appear in a Grand Slam singles final (he was the runner-up to Croatia’s Marin Cilic at that year’s US Open) and then the first Asian man to play singles at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Impressing as a debutant at The O2, he made the last four that year, with his semi-final watched by 10 million people in Japan. He qualified once again last November, though on that occasion he didn’t make it out of his group.

The only Japanese in history to be ranked in the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, he has played some fine tennis this season, which brought him the title in Memphis for a fourth successive year, as well as runner-up finishes at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Miami and Toronto and appearances in the finals of the ATP World Tour 500 events in Barcelona and Basel, plus a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics and a victory over Murray in the quarter-finals of the US Open (and that was when the Briton was on the best run of his career, after winning Wimbledon and the Olympics). With every point, game, set and match that Nishikori wins, his followers grow ever more committed.

Living in the United States allows Nishikori to focus on his training (with sessions that don’t attract thousands). As he has said, “nobody cares about me there in Florida… If I stayed in Japan, I think I would just go crazy. By living in the United States, I can concentrate on my tennis and I can practise and play all day, and that’s something you have to do. If I was living in Japan, there would be lots of things that I wouldn’t be able to do.

“You have to keep on training hard and not allow yourself to be distracted, and to remind yourself you’re working hard because you’re chasing a dream. You also have to remember that you’re playing for yourself and not for anyone else – that helps you to deal with the pressures.”