Kei Nishikori was born in Shimane, Japan and moved to the US at age 14 to train at the IMG Academy in Florida. Despite not speaking English upon arrival, he continues to train at IMG Academy, formerly known as the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. Nishikori recently earned his first Top 20 win at the 2024 Montreal Masters by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the third round, marking his first time reaching this stage in three years. He also became the third lowest-ranked player to reach the last 16 at an ATP Masters 1000 event. Nishikori returned to the ATP Tour at the 2024 Miami Open after over a year, and also achieved wins at the Atlanta Open in 2023 following a long recovery from injuries. “Project 45” was Nishikori’s pursuit to become the highest-ranked male player in Japanese tennis history, which he achieved by reaching No. 30 in the ATP rankings after the Shanghai semi-finals in October 2011. He is coached by Michael Chang, Max Mirnyi, and Thomas Johansson, and has won 12 singles titles, including victories at Memphis, Tokyo, and Barcelona. Nishikori’s best Grand Slam performance was reaching the US Open final in 2014, and he has recorded wins over the Big Three of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. With a strong social media presence and endorsement deals with brands like Uniqlo, Nishikori has amassed significant wealth and has a peak ranking of No. 4 in the world.