page_title: Kei Nishikori
section_title: 2015: Career-high ranking
hierarchical_section_title: Kei Nishikori / Career / 2015: Career-high ranking
caption_attribution_description: English: Kei Nishikori in the first round of the 2015 French Open, after his victory against Paul-Henri Mathieu.
context_page_description: Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only male Japanese tennis player in history to be ranked inside the top 5 in singles, and first reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015. He is currently ranked world No. 31 by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
  Nishikori has won 12 singles titles and was runner-up at the 2014 US Open, making him the first male player representing an Asian country to reach a Grand Slam singles final. He also became the first man from Asia to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals and reached the semifinals in 2014 and 2016. In addition, Nishikori defeated Rafael Nadal to win the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, bringing Japan its first Olympic tennis medal in 96 years.
context_section_description: Nishikori began the 2015 season by participating in the 2015 Brisbane International and reached the semifinals before being beaten by Milos Raonic in 3 tight-set tiebreaks. He reached the 2015 Brisbane International doubles finals with his partner Alexandr Dolgopolov but lost in straight sets. Nishikori equalled his best record yet in the Australian Open by reaching the quarterfinals for the second time in his career, dropping only 2 sets along the way, but he was beaten in straight sets by defending champion Stan Wawrinka. In February, Nishikori won his eighth singles title and became the first ever player to win the Memphis Open three times in a row, beating Kevin Anderson in straight sets in the final.
  He next participated in the 2015 Abierto Mexicano Telcel and reached the final, losing only a set to Kevin Anderson in the semifinals. By reaching the final, he earned enough ATP ranking points to move into a new career high world ranking of No. 4. However, he lost to David Ferrer in straight sets in the final. During the March Masters, he reached the fourth round of the 2015 BNP Paribas Open for the first time in seven appearances but was upset by Feliciano López in straight sets in the fourth round. In the 2015 Miami Open, he defeated Mikhail Youzhny, Viktor Troicki and David Goffin all in straight sets losing only a total of 10 games to reach the quarterfinals. However, he was upset by an in-form John Isner in straight sets.
  Nishikori began his clay-court season at the 2015 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell where he reached the final after beating Teymuraz Gabashvili, Santiago Giraldo, Roberto Bautista Agut and Martin Kližan. He successfully defended his title by beating Pablo Andújar in the final in two sets to win his ninth career title on the tour. At the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open, Nishikori was granted a first-round bye and proceeded by defeating David Goffin in three tough-sets in the second round. He reached the semifinals after beating Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer in straight sets respectively. He then lost to Andy Murray in the semifinals, and his ranking dropped to 6th as a result of failing to defend his points from the final in 2014.
  Nishikori was given a tough draw at the 2015 Italian Open but managed to reach the quarterfinal after beating Jiří Veselý and Viktor Troicki, both in straight sets. He faced world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the QF and lost in three sets. Nishikori opened his French Open campaign by defeating both Paul-Henri Mathieu and Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets to advance to the third round. He advanced to the 4R for the second time in his career after his third round opponent, Benjamin Becker, withdrew due to a right shoulder injury. Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open in 82 years by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili. He then played home favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but eventually lost in five set.
  Nishikori opened his grass-court season by participating in the Halle Open where he reached the semifinals, only to retire in his match against Andreas Seppi down 1–4 in the first set due to his calf injury which he attained in his quarterfinal match. Nishikori decided to play Wimbledon, and he reached the second round by beating Simone Bolelli in five sets for the second straight year but then withdrew from his second round match against Santiago Giraldo, due to his calf injury acting on him again during his first round match.
  Nishikori opened his hard-court season by competing at the 2015 Citi Open defeating James Duckworth, Leonardo Mayer, Sam Groth, and Marin Čilić en route to the final where he beat John Isner in three tight sets to capture his third title of the year and 10th title overall. At the 2015 Rogers Cup, he reached the semifinals without losing a set and defeated Rafael Nadal for the first time in eight tries in the quarterfinals. He lost to Andy Murray in the semifinals in straight sets. He withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters citing fatigue and hip injury, which affected his semifinal match against Murray the previous week. He lost
caption: Nishikori at the 2015 French Open, after his victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu.
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