A day after Andy Murray put his Grand Slam comeback on hold, Japan's Kei Nishikori has become the latest high-profile player to withdraw from next month's Australian Open, citing a right elbow injury. Tennis Australia issued a statement Monday saying Nishikori had withdrawn from the season-opening major at Melbourne Park and from the ATP Cup, a new international men's team event which starts next week and will be played in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. The world No. 13, who has not played since a third-round loss to Australia's Alex de Minaur at the U.S. Open, required minor elbow surgery in the off-season. ``Today, together with my team, we have made this decision as I am still not 100 per cent ready (or) healthy to compete at the highest level,'' Nishikori said. ``This decision was not taken lightly as Australia is one of my favorite places to compete.'' ``Together with my team I will keep working hard to be back on court as soon as possible. Thanks for all the support.`` Nishikori, who reached a career-high rank of No. 4 in 2015, is a four-time Australian Open quarterfinalist (2012, 2015, 2016, 2019) with a 29-7 record at Melbourne Park. Murray, a three-time major winner, announced Sunday that he had experienced a ``setback`` in his recovery from injury and as a precaution would not be coming to Australia in January.
