2016 ATP World Tour: Rating the Top 5 players
#5. Kei Nishikori- 8/10
The Japanese began 2016 by reaching the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International before reaching his third Australian Open quarter-final where he was beaten by eventual champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Following the Australian Open, Nishikori won his fourth consecutive Memphis Open Title. He then reached the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells Masters for the first time in his career before going down to Rafael Nadal. This was followed by his second Masters 1000 final at the Miami Open where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
Nishikori began his clay-court season by reaching the final of the Barcelona Open, only to lose to Rafael Nadal. This was followed by back-to-back semi-final appearances at Madrid and Rome, where he lost to Djokovic on both occasions. He ended his clay-court season with a fourth round exit at the French Open where he was beaten by Richard Gasquet.
Nishikori had a relatively poor grass-court season as he had to retire from his second round match at the Halle Open due to a hip injury. At the Wimbledon, Nishikori reached the fourth round before being forced to retire against Marin Cilic due to an injury. However, Nishikori rebounded well by reaching the final of the Rogers Cup. This was followed by winning the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics which made him the first Japanese person to win an Olympic medal in tennis in 96 years.
Following the Olympics, Nishikori reached his second Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open where he beat Wimbledon and Olympic champion Andy Murray in the quarter-finals before going down to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka in four sets. After a disappointing Asian Swing, Nishikori reached the final of the Basel Masters where he lost to Marin Cilic.
At the World Tour Finals, Nishikori won his opening match against Wawrinka but lost his next two games against Murray and Cilic, both in straight sets. However, his 4-4 sets record was enough to send him in the semi-finals where he was bashed by Novak Djokovic 6-1, 6-1.
Nishikori had quite a decent ATP World Tour this year and gets a rating of 8 for his performances this year.