Nishikori's Role Model ?

In an interview with CNN Hong Kong, Nishikori said that he has always enjoyed playing against Federer. He added that he loves watching the Swiss play during practice sessions and competitive tournaments. "He is the player I respect that most," Nishikori said of Federer. "He has a good serve, great forehand, and backhand, everything is perfect with his game," Nishikori added. Nishikori thinks that Federer has no particular weakness at all.

According to Tennis World, Nishikori used to be Federer's hitting partner during the 2007 Wimbledon Championshiops. He has faced Federer four times in his professional tennis career. Their head-to-head records are tied with 2 wins and 2 losses for both.

Nishikori first played against Federer in the Swiss Indoors Basel tournament in 2011. They met in the finale of the tournament. The Swiss won in two straight sets. Nishikori and Federer's next match took place at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour Masters 1000 Event in Madrid. Nishikori defeated Federer, who was the defending champion, in Round 16.

Nishikori played against Federer for the third time at the ATP World Tour Masters hard court event in Miami. He defeated Federer in the quarterfinals. Their last meeting was at the 2014 Gerry Weber tournament in Halle. Federer won and evened their head-to-head record at 2-2.

Nishikori is 44-10 in the current season. He has won three titles in Memphis, Barcelona, and just recently, in Kuala Lumpur. Nishikori defeated Rajeev Ram, Marinko Matosevic, Jarkko Nieminen, and Julien Benneteau to win his third title in Malaysia. According to ATP, Nishikori's victory has earned him 170 points in the Emirates ATP Race To London. Nishikori is reportedly hoping to become the first tennis player from Asia to qualify and compete in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.