Kei Nishikori: Feel like Rafael Nadal loves Centre Court in Washington

• Tennis News
• Rafael Nadal

Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori claims the Centre Cour and other courts are Washington are completely different. Nishikori suggested that the Centre Court is slower and that suits Rafael Nadal's game. On Wednesday, first-seeded Nadal kicked off his campaign in Washington with a hard-earned 6-2 4-6 7-6 (1) win over Jack Sock.

Nsdal, 34, is having his debut campaign on the hard courts of Washington. Nishikori also made a positive start to his Washington campaign, having beaten Sam Querrey and Alexander Bublik to reach the last-16. "Centre court and other courts are completely different in Washington, Centre Court is very slow while other courts are fast as if in different tournament.

Feel like Nadal loves the Centre Court, slow and bouncy," Nishikori said, per Seiadoumogera/Twitter.

Nishikori arrived to Washington tired

Nishikori, who made the quarterfinal at the Tokyo Olympics, admitted he was tired upon his arrival to Washington.

"In Tokyo, the court speed was middle, a bit grippy because of resurfacing, but I had to increase string tension by 10 pounds due to terrible heat, I had never tried that tension, it was kind of extreme condition," Nishikori said.

The tennis event at the Tokyo Olympics was held behind the closed doors but fans are allowed at the Citi Open in Washington. "Honestly I can't say which is better, no spectator or full crowd. It's more entertaining with the crowd for sure, but we sometimes have bad-mannered people in the crowd especially in the United States, so both have pros and cons," Nishikori explained.

Nishikori hasn't had easy couple of years but slowly he is regaining his form and feel for the game. "Have been working on forehand at practice after Wimbledon, trying to hit through with finally feeling no pain on wrist or shoulder these days. I'm not sure if the practice has had a good effect, but my forehand is obviously getting better," Nishikori revealed.