Kei Nishikori adds Thomas Johansson to coaching team for his latest comeback in 2024

Kei Nishikori is not ready to see the sun set on his playing career just yet, and the 34-year-old had employed Swedish coach Thomas Johansson for his return to action.

Former world No. 4 Nishikori has been out of action since last July following a quarterfinal effort in Atlanta.as a result of a left knee injury. That followed a nearly two-year period of inactivity after a myriad of injuries, chief maong them hip surgery in 2022. In June of 2023, the former Top 10 player, without an ATP ranking stormed to the title in his return to competition an an ATP Challenger in Palmas Del Mar, Puerto Rico.

But news broke from Nishikori himself this week on X, formerly Twitter, with the Japanese star saying on Saturday that he was "excited" to annonce that the 2002 Australian Open champion was joining his team.

"We already had some good weeks together in Florida and I am happy he is joining the team," Nishikori wrote. Earlier this week, the 2014 US Open finalist also posted an Instagram story of him training on court at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., portending a return to action sooner rather than later.

Sweden's Johansson spent the 2023 season coaching Romania's Sorana Cirstea, who reached the US Open quarterfinals under his tutelage, but Cirstea revealed this week in Dubai that the pair stopped working together after the Australian Open. Johansson previously coached players including Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sakkari, Filip Krajinovic and David Goffin.