Kei Nishikori's popularity in Japan is crazy, says agent
Kei Nishikori has to be surrounded by bodyguards when he rarely visits Japan and wants to walk on the streets. In an interview to Nos, his agent Olivier Van Lindonk, who is from the Netherlands, said: "It's crazy, yes. Fans sleep in front of his hotel. He lives in Florida for a reason."
This week Nishikori is competing in Rotterdam and he features as top seeds and the only top ten players as both Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic withdrew.
Van Lindonk lived and worked in the United States for 22 years. He first saw Nishikori 15 years ago in the IMG Academy founded by Nick Bollettieri. Van Lindonk was working here and he noticed the Japanese very easily. "We worked in America. He learned to fight."
On the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Nishikori added: "It will be very big. It's very exciting, there are many athletes. The Games take place in your country, your city, and I hope to get even stronger and to do well."
The 29-year-old finally spoke about his agent: "He is more like a family, we've been together for a long time, we are really close, he does everything for me. He takes care of my house, my career, everything in my life, he is one of the biggest persons in my team."
Nishikori will play the Dubai Tennis Championship late this month for the first time in his career
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2EbJrfT
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