Kei Nishikori believes some players follow Novak Djokovic by trying to “avoid unforced errors, and kind of play safe,” says Sinner & Alcaraz “play aggressive like Federer”

During a recent conversation with Shingo Kunieda, Kei Nishikori opined that while some youngsters have adopted a cautious playing style like Novak Djokovic, others are more aggressive like Roger Federer.

Nishikori is someone who is well-versed with Djokovic and Federer’s games, having faced the duo a mammoth 31 times combined on tour.

While speaking with Kunieda, who is a 46-time Major champion in men’s wheelchair tennis, Nishikori explained how some members of the Next Gen have adopted a “safe” playing style.

The former US Open champion pointed out that players like Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have taken inspiration from Novak Djokovic’s style, who is famed for his accuracy.

“Following Djokovic, these days players tend to focus on probability, try to avoid unforced errors and kind of play safe, hit cross court shots on defense, like Medvedev, Zverev, players who can execute that surely are absolutely dominant now,” Kei Nishikori said.

Having said that, Nishikori was quick to point out that players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are a lot more aggressive, akin to the way Roger Federer plays. Nishikori surmised that there cannot be a specific style that suits every player.

“At the same time players like Alcaraz or Sinner are coming, play aggressive like Federer, there can’t be perfect tennis for everybody,” Nishikori added.

Like Djokovic and Federer, Nishikori too is in the latter stages of his career, even though at 31, he is a fair few years younger than the Serb and the Swiss.

However, the Japanese stressed that he cannot make too many alterations to his playing style but can only look to improve on his strong points.

“It’s impossible to change my tennis (drastically), all I have to do is try to improve my weapons, like, play with quicker tempo than others,” Nishikori said.

A look at Kei Nishikori’s record against Novak Djokovic & Roger Federer

Kei Nishikori has faced Novak Djokovic a whopping 20 times on tour and has been defeated by the Serb on 18 occasions. Nishikori beat Djokovic for the first time in Basel in 2011, which was only their second career meeting.

The next time Djokovic lost to the Japanese player was at the 2014 US Open semifinals. Since then, the World No. 1 has gotten the better of Nishikori 17 times in a row, including at this year’s Tokyo Olympics and US Open.

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Roger Federer, meanwhile, has faced Kei Nishikori 11 times on tour and has scored a win over the latter on eight occasions. The 31-year-old beat Federer at the 2013 Madrid Masters, 2014 Miami Masters, and at the 2018 ATP Finals.