PARIS – Tennis players Kei Nishikori, Go Soeda and Tatsuma Ito have all qualified for the men’s singles draw at the London Olympics, based on world rankings released Monday by the International Tennis Federation.
Nishikori, currently ranked No. 18 in the world, will be competing in his second consecutive Olympic games after gaining a berth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics via recommendation. The 22-year-old ace made quarterfinals appearances in this year’s Australian Open as well as in tournaments in Buenos Aires and Barcelona before suffering an abdominal strain that kept him out of the French Open.
Soeda and Ito, who represented Japan in the Davis Cup and World Team Cup this year, are ranked No. 54 and 68, respectively.
The 2012 London Olympics will mark the first time for Japan to place three men in the singles draw since tennis was reinstated as an Olympic sport at the Seoul Games in 1988.