Former world no 4 Kei Nishikori announced on social media on Sunday that he had tested positive for Covid-19.
The 30-year-old had been preparing to travel from his base in Bradenton, Florida to New York for the Western and Southern Open (Cincinnati) Masters event which has been relocated to Flushing Meadows this year.
However, the 2014 US Open finalist tested positive for Coronavirus before making the trip.
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“I have some unfortunate news today. This morning while still in Florida, I got tested for Covid-19 and tested positive,” he wrote on social media.
“I will have to pull out of the Cincinnati tournament at this time. Me and my team will get tested again on Friday at which point I will have another update. I am feeling well and have very little symptoms but will obviously be in complete isolation for the safety of everyone. We were planning to fly to New York tomorrow but will obviously now stay in Florida. Next update will be on Friday.”
The current world no 31 from Japan is now the seventh active men’s player to have tested positive for Covid-19, after Thiago Seyboth Wild, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, Viktor Troicki, Novak Djokovic and Frances Tiafoe.
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Nishikori testing this close to the US Open, which starts on August 31, puts his participation at the Grand Slam in doubt.
So far, the American major has had a large number of top-profile players making the absentee list this year. This includes, but is not limited to, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, women’s world no 1 Ashleigh Barty, no 4 Elina Svitolina, and the defending champions from both the men’s and women’s field, Rafael Nadal and Bianca Andreescu respectively.
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