Nitto ATP Finals 2018: Previewing The Two Groups 

Kei Nishikori (seed 7, ranking No 9)

Kei Nishikori registers a scintillating season coming back from an injury

lay off

last year.

The 28-year-old Nishikori finished one spot outside the automatic qualification in the ATP race but his entry was aided with Del Potro's withdrawal. The Japanese is making his fourth appearance at the Finals. He has made the semis twice, in 2014 and 2016.

Nishikori was on a comeback trail this season after having missed the latter part of the last year due to injury. He began the season by picking the Dallas Challenger title and then went on to make the semi-finals in New York. The World No 9 also reached the quarters at Wimbledon where he stretched Novak Djokovic to four sets but eventually lost against the Serb.

Nishikori was flawless in his quarter-final match against Marin Cilic at the US Open where he played a brilliant five-setter to knock out the Croat and proceeded to the semis where he eventually went to down to Novak Djokovic again.

The Japanese was a finalist at the Japan Open and Vienna too. Nishikori made the quarterfinals at both Shanghai and Paris but in both of the matches, it was Federer who got the better of him. Nishikori has compiled a brilliant 42-19 this season and his comeback has been worth applauding.

He is 5-3 head to head against Kevin Anderson and 3-1 against Thiem. With these favorable numbers, Nishikori most certainly has a shot at making the semis of the finals for the third time. The need of the hour is to stay injury free and maintain the mental composure.