Osaka and Nishikori flying flag for Japan at AO 2025

Last Sunday could have been a special day for Japanese tennis, with the country's flagship players in the men’s and women’s games both contesting Tour-level finals after long waits.

But it was ultimately not to be for either Naomi Osaka or Kei Nishikori.

While two-time Australian Open champion Osaka was forced to withdraw due to injury from her Auckland Classic final against Clara Tauson, having taken the first set 6-4, former world No.4 Nishikori lost 2-6 6-1 6-3 to Alexandre Muller in the Hong Kong Open showpiece.

Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, was featuring in her first Tour-level final since she went down to the all-conquering Iga Swiatek at the 2022 Miami Open. Nishikori, on the other hand, was playing in his first final in six years.

Nishikori’s efforts earned him the crown as the biggest mover of the week in the ATP Rankings, rising 32 places to 74. It is the first time he has been in the top 100 since 2022.

Osaka moved to allay any injury fears before travelling to Melbourne, where she last triumphed in 2021 – that second AO title remains her most recent trophy.

READ: Osaka takes the good with the bad ahead of AO 2025

Even though the duo fell short in their respective finals last week, the two standout Japanese players of the past decade can nevertheless go into AO 2025 full of confidence.

Osaka rediscovering golden touch?

Osaka made good on her vast potential when she triumphed at AO 2019, at the age of 21.

Her career has since been full of ups and downs. But at 27, Osaka seems to be enjoying her tennis again and is accustomed to delivering her best at the AO, winning more main-draw matches at Melbourne Park than at any other tournament.

She has won 24 of her 30 AO singles matches. That 80% win percentage at the event puts her behind only world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka (81.5%) among active players.

Sabalenka (82%, 50-11) is also the only active player with a higher winning percentage across the two hard-court Grand Slams than Osaka (79.7%, 47-12).

Osaka is one of just three active female players to have won multiple AO singles titles, along with Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka, while she is on an illustrious list of five players to have played at least three major finals and go undefeated, having won all four of her Grand Slam showpiece matches. 

In that respect she is in the company of Swiatek (5-0), Virginia Wade, Jennifer Capriati and Ashleigh Barty (3-0 each).

Osaka is the most successful Japanese woman at the AO in the Open era, with Ai Sugiyama the next best for match wins (19). Indeed, only Sugiyama (84) has recorded more Grand Slam match victories than Osaka (60) among Japanese players.

A word of warning, though. Osaka has won seven of her previous eight AO openers, though that defeat came against Caroline Garcia last year. 

In a twist of fate, the Frenchwoman will be her first-round opponent again this time around. 

A last hurrah?

Nishikori has reached the AO quarterfinals on four occasions (2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019), but has never got beyond that stage.

Indeed, the only time he has achieved a better finish in any major was when he lost to Marin Cilic in the final at the US Open in 2014.

Nishikori is by far the most successful male Japanese player when it comes to Grand Slam match wins – his record of 103 victories is a whopping 84 clear of second-best Yoshihito Nishioka (18). 

Of those wins, 27 have come at Melbourne Park, where he has a 73% win ratio – his best at any Grand Slam.

Indeed, should Nishikori beat Thiago Monteiro in his first-round match, it will mean he has more match wins at the AO (28) than he does at any of the other majors.

Now aged 35, time is certainly not on Nishikori’s side as he looks to end his wait for a maiden major title.

But even if a trophy tilt proves out of his reach, he could be well set to at least offer a grand hurrah, and show he’s still got what it takes to compete at the top.