Michael Chang and Kei Nishikori (Photo : Getty Images)
Asia's top tennis player Kei Nishikori of Japan hopes to bounced back from an injury-plagued 2015 as he returns to the round of 16 in this year's Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
According to Nishikori, his third round win over Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was part of American-Taiwanese coach Michael Chang's on-court toughness.
"He's a very nice guy off the court but on court he's very tough," Nishikori said, reports Eurosport.
Nishikori needed four sets to finish off the Spaniard 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the next round where he faces French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who struggled to get rid of his compatriot Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4 7-6(7) 7-6(4).
The seventh seed Nishikori, who goes to the Australian Open round of 16 for a fifth straight year, plopped down in his chair during a changeover and called for the trainer while grabbing his heavily taped right wrist. The wrist turned out to be fine as he went on to win his match, but injury concerns started to swirl around the Japanese ahead of his tough challenge against Tsonga.
''Actually, I had (the same problem) two years ago,'' Nishikori said, reports Tennis.
'I needed to tape my wrist because, you know, I have some issues there. So maybe it came back a little bit, but should be OK for the next one.''
Nishikori is predicted to have a quarterfinal match against world No.1 Novak Djokovic if the two gets past their respective opponents in the fourth round, which means the Japanese will probably need more of Chang's intense coaching.
Meanwhile, Chang, a one-time Grand Slam winner, will play in the men's legends doubles with Australia's Wayne Arthurs. They will take on the Swiss duo of Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson.
