Yoshihito Nishioka
Yoshihito Nishioka is a Japanese tennis player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 48 on 24 February 2020.
Career
Junior career
As a junior, he compiled a 113–49 win/loss record in singles, achieving a combined ranking of No.12 in the world in January 2012.Junior Grand Slam singles results:
Australian Open: 3R
French Open: 2R
Wimbledon: 2R
US Open: SF
2014
Nishioka qualified for the US Open in his first Grand Slam qualifying appearance, but he was forced to retire in the first round match against Paolo Lorenzi because of illness. The Next week, he claimed his first ATP Challenger Tour title in Shanghai by beating Somdev Devvarman in the final.In September, Nishioka earned men's singles gold medal in the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, where he upset top seed Lu Yen-hsun of Chinese Taipei in the final. He also became first Japanese men's singles champion since Toshiro Sakai, who won the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran.
2015
Nishioka qualified for the Delray Beach Open in February. He beat Igor Sijsling in the first round to record his first ATP main-draw win. He followed that up with a straight-sets win over Marinko Matosevic to become the first teenage qualifier to reach quarterfinals of the tournament since his countryman Kei Nishikori. He lost to Bernard Tomic in straight sets.During spring clay court season, Nishioka made his debut at the 2015 French Open, losing to fourth seed Tomáš Berdych in first round. In the 2015 US Open, Nishioka advanced to the second round of Major for the first time in his career, beating fellow qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu in five sets. He was beaten by 30th seed Thomaz Bellucci in next round. In November, he ended 2015 season with his second challenger title in Toyoya, beating Alexander Kudryavtsev in the final.
2016: Top 100
By winning the Asia-Pacific wildcard play-offs in Shenzhen, Nishioka earned a wildcard into the 2016 Australian Open. However, he fell in the first round to Pablo Cuevas. In February, he reached the quarterfinal of the Memphis Open as a qualifier, winning over Jared Donaldson and Illya Marchenko along the way. He lost to fourth seed Sam Querrey in straight sets. He then qualified for the Miami Open to make his ATP World Tour Masters 1000 main-draw debut, getting to the third round after beating fellow qualifier Jared Donaldson and 21st seed Feliciano López. He lost his chance to compete in the round of sixteen when he was beaten by 14th seed Dominic Thiem.In June, Nishioka won through qualifying at 2016 Wimbledon for the first time, losing to Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round of the main draw. The following week, he earned his third Challenger title in Winnetka without dropping a set, beating Frances Tiafoe in the final. He also moved into the top 100 of the ATP rankings for the first time. At the Atlanta Tennis Championships, he reached his first ATP tournament semifinal, after defeating Daniel Evans, fourth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov and Horacio Zeballos. He then lost to eventual champion Nick Kyrgios in three sets.
2017: Rising star, knee injury
At the 2017 Australian Open, Nishioka earned his second win at a Grand Slam tournament when he defeated Alex Bolt. In the second round, he was ousted by Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets. In February, he qualified for the Mexican Open by defeating Tobias Kamke and Ryan Harrison. He proceeded to the quarterfinals after wins against Jack Sock and Jordan Thompson. His victory against Sock was his first win over a top-20 opponent on the ATP Tour. He was then defeated by Rafael Nadal in straight sets. In March, Nishioka built on his momentum by entering the main draw at Indian Wells as a lucky loser. In the first round of the main draw, he played a rematch of his qualifying loss against Elias Ymer, this time winning in straight sets. In the second and third rounds he defeated Ivo Karlovic and Tomas Berdych respectively. He was lauded for his comeback three-set victory against Berdych after being down 1–6, 2–5. He was ousted in the fourth round by world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in a tight three-set match – 3–6, 6–3, 7–6, that featured multiple breaks of serve and a tiebreak in the third set; Wawrinka went on to become runner-up in the Open.Nishioka's promising start to the season was abruptly cut short when he ruptured the ACL of his left knee in a match against Jack Sock at the Miami Open. He underwent surgical reconstruction of the ACL on April 4, 2017.
2018: Return from injury, first ATP title
After rehabilitating his knee, Nishioka returned to the ATP tour in January 2018. He chose to use his protected ranking to receive direct entry into the 2018 Australian Open draw. In the first round of the 2018 Australian Open, his first major match since his injury, he defeated #28 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in five sets. At the 2018 ATP Shenzhen Open – Singles, he won the first ATP World Tour title in his career, defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the final.2019: Grand Slam Results
Nishioka defeated American Tennys Sandgren in the first round of the 2019 Australian Open in a tight match. He fell to Karen Khachanov in the second round. It marked the third consecutive year Nishioka reached the second round in Melbourne, where he has had his most consistent success in the Grand Slam events.In the 2019 French Open, Nishioka defeated American Mackenzie McDonald in the first round. He fell to Juan Martín del Potro in a nearly four-hour long five-set match in the second round, which included a come-back tiebreak to push the match to a fifth set. Nishioka's trademark defensive game was not ultimately enough to prevail over the powerful Argentine. Del Potro crossed the net and bowed to Nishioka in respect at the end of the epic match.
At the 2019 Western & Southern Open, Nishioka had his first win against a top ten player, defeating Kei Nishikori, whom Nishioka described as his hero, in the second round. Nishioka advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament but had to withdraw due to illness.
ATP World Tour career finals
Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | 2018 ATP Shenzhen Open – Singles| | Shenzhen Open, China | 250 Series | Hard |  Pierre-Hugues Herbert | 7–5, 2–6, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–1 | 2020 Delray Beach Open – Singles| | Delray Beach Open, USA | 250 Series | Hard |  Reilly Opelka | 5–7, 7–6, 2–6 |
ATP Challenger finals
Singles: 6 (5 titles, 1 runner-up)
| Outcome | No.4 | Date | Tournament | Surface Tarmac | Opponent | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 7 September 2014 | Shanghai, China | Hard |  Somdev Devvarman | 6–4, 6–7, 7–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 29 November 2015 | Toyota, Japan | Carpet |  Alexander Kudryavtsev | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Winner | 3. | 9 July 2016 | Winnetka, United States | Hard | Frances Tiafoe | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Winner | 4. | 26 November 2016 | Astana, Kazakhstan | Hard |  Denis Istomin | 6–4, 6–7, 7–6 |
| Winner | 5. | 13 May 2018 | Gimcheon, South Korea | Hard |  Vasek Pospisil | 6–4, 7–5 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 28 October 2018 | Traralgon, Australia | Hard |  Jordan Thompson | 3–6, 4–6 |