Japan's former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori marked his return to Grand Slam tennis with a win Sunday, fending off Canadian qualifier Gabriel Diallo in five sets in the first round of the French Open.
The 34-year-old Nishikori, now ranked 350th in the world, overcame his 166th-ranked opponent in a marathon 4-hour, 22-minute match at Rolland Garros 7-5, 7-6(3), 3-6, 1-6, 7-5, grabbing a vital break to seal it.
"My desire allowed me to fight through at the end," said Nishikori, whose last Grand Slam appearance was at the 2021 U.S. Open.
"I'm happy with the win but mostly with the fact I'm regaining my performance somewhat. I didn't feel like I was going to make mistakes despite not playing at my best."
Nishikori had hip joint surgery in January 2022 before his return to the top-tier ATP Tour last July saw him ruled out again with a left knee injury at the Atlanta Open. His comeback in Miami in March this year lasted just one match.
"I went to five sets in my first match in a while, and as you'd expect I wasn't in shape for that, physically," he said. "There was (fatigue) from the second set. I was stumbling in the fourth."
The towering 203-centimeter Diallo had 15 aces to one from Nishikori, who needed a medical time-out before the final set as he received treatment around his lower back on the court. But the veteran got the upper hand in long rallies by varying his shots.
"I was helped by his unforced errors up to the second set, but it looked as if he was a different person from the third," Nishikori said. "I felt the strength of someone in the top 50 from midway through the match (in Diallo). Going on the attack was my only option in the final set."
Japanese 20-year-old qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki put on a great showing in his match, taking Polish eight-seed Hubert Hurkacz to five sets before losing 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.
