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12/30/08 12:04 PM | David Cox
Rising Japanese star Kei Nishikori has been given a boost to his Aussie Open preparations with a wildcard into the Heineken Open, the final warm-up before the 1st slam of the year.
Nishikori's been rewarded for a sparkling 2008 where he came from nowhere to win the Delray Beach title as a qualifier, beating James Blake in the final. He hit the headlines again in New York with his run to the 4th round, beating world no 4 and former semi-finalist David Ferrer in a 5 set tussle which lasted nearly 4 hours. On a hard court he's a very dangerous floater and could be a surprise package in this tournament.
The event director Richard Palmer said how the tournament tries to balance its wildcards between local prospects and exciting newcomers to the tennis world, "It's very exciting to have a player like him in the field, especially since he is rated so highly by fellow players as someone who could be top 20 by the end of 2009."
2 of the 3 wildcards have been named so far, the other has gone to Kiwi no 1 Rubin Statham who's currently at a career high of 414 in the world. 2008 wasn't a great year for New Zealand tennis as their previous no 1 Daniel King-Turner slipped down the rankings. Statham made his ATP debut at Auckland last year losing 6-4, 6-4 to Albert Montanes.
The tournament is trying to find out if James Blake is interested in a wildcard after the American's surprise withdrawal from the Kooyong Classic.
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