Tennis: Kei Nishikori withdraws before 1st round of Wimbledon warm-up – The Mainichi

EASTBOURNE, England (Kyodo) — Japan’s Kei Nishikori pulled out of the Rothesay International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, England, just before his first-round match Tuesday, citing a right ankle injury.

The injury-plagued former world No. 4 was slated to face sixth-seeded Argentine Mariano Navone in the grass-court warm-up event for Wimbledon, which begins next Monday.

“I had a light sprain three days ago during practice,” Nishikori said. “I slipped on the grass. It has caused some slight inflammation, so I took an extra precaution.”

It was to be Nishikori’s first match since he retired from a French Open second-round match with a sore right shoulder after dropping the first two sets to Ben Shelton of the United States.

As for the Wimbledon championships, the 34-year-old Nishikori, currently ranked 399th in the world, said, “I’ll see how it goes for a few days. I can’t promise, but I’ll try to make it.”

Nishikori has earned a place at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Also in Eastbourne, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka won his first-round match, defeating Britain’s Liam Broady 6-3, 6-4.