THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 17, 2020 at 12:37 JST
Kei Nishikori returns a shot during round three of the U.S. Open tennis championships Aug. 30, 2019 in New York.
NEW YORK--Kei Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open runner-up, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and said he will pull out of the tune-up tournament at Flushing Meadows that starts next week.
Nishikori posted what he called “some unfortunate news” on his mobile app.
While he is withdrawing from the Western & Southern Open--a hard-court event usually held in Cincinnati but moved this year to the U.S. Open site in New York because of the coronavirus pandemic--he did not say what his plans are for the Grand Slam tournament that begins Aug. 31.
The 30-year-old from Japan said he is in Florida, where he is based, and had planned to fly to New York on Monday. But that plan was scrapped.
He will offer an update on his status Friday.
“I am feeling well and have very little symptoms but will obviously be in complete isolation for the safety of everyone,” Nishikori said.
He has been ranked as high as No. 4 and is currently No. 31, which puts him in line to be seeded for the U.S. Open.
Nishikori lost in the 2014 final there to Marin Cilic and was also a semifinalist in New York in 2016 and 2018.
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.