Kei Nishikori aims to win title or beat top-10 player

Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori feels his game has improved since last year's French Open as he is hoping to have a positive campaign at Roland Garros. 

Nishikori, ranked at No. 49 in the world, played only four tournaments last season and the French Open was one of those four tournaments. 

Last September, Nishikori suffered a second round defeat on the clay courts of Roland Garros. 

"My tennis has much improved since previous RG," Nishikori said, per Seiadoumogera/Twitter. "If my mind and everything click, I think I can have good results, that's a huge difference from last September. I'm not full of confidence because I'm not seeded and my results so far are not enough though."

Nishikori aims a top-10 win 

"What I need now is great results, like winning a tournament or beating top 10 players. I feel like such results will bring me a bit of confidence little by little, I'm almost there but have not taken a last step, want to overcome the hurdle," Nishikori added. 

In his last tournament played, Nishikori made the Rome Masters round-of-16 before losing to Alexader Zverev. 

Back then, Nishikori was a set up against Zverev before the German stormed back to win in three sets. 

"If I had beaten Zverev in Rome, things might have changed, but I was feeling really well even at that time. I stopped hitting aggressively after taking a lead in the match, that's what I lack and I feel like winning matches will improve the aspect,"Nishikori said. 

Nishikori was drawn to meet Italian Alessandro Giannessi in the French Open first round.  

"I need just a little bit more, it's frustrating. I have not beaten a top 10 player while played well against non-top 10 players, so that has good side and bad side," Nishikori added. 

Nishikori has twice made the quarterfinal on the clay courts of Roland Garros. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3fUA4mu