Matteo Berrettini, Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori have been nominated for the 2024 ATP Comeback of the year. Nominees for the Comeback of the Year are determined by an International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA).
Matteo Berrettini ended the 2023 season after an ankle injury forced him to retire in the second round of the US Open. He withdrew on the eve of the first round at the Australian Open due to injury problems.
Berrettini came back at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Phoenix, where he finished runner-up to Portugal’s Nuno Borges. Berrettini lost to Andy Murray in three sets in Miami.
Berrettini won three ATP Tour titles in Marrakesh, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel to bring his tour-level singles trophy count to 10 titles. He also advanced to the grass final in Stuttgart, where he finished runner-up to Jack Draper.
Berrettini helped Italy win the Davis Cup title for the second consecutive year after winning his singles matches against Thanasi Kokkinakis in the semifinal and Botic Van de Zandschulp in the final.
Matteo Berrettini: “When you are not able to do your job and what you like to do, then it’s always a struggle. So I am really appreciating every moment that I have to spend on court, to perform and give my best”.
Marin Cilic was plagued by a knee injury for much of the 2023 season. The Croatian player underwent knee surgery in May. He came back in late August on the ATP Challenger Tour. He beat Brandon Nakashima in the semifinal and Zhang Zhzhen in the final en route to winning to the ATP Tour title in Hangzhou. After dropping out of the top 1000 in the ATP Rankings in early 2024, Cilic soared 800 places to end the season in the top 200.
Marin Cilic: “It has been difficult period for me in the past few months. I lost my ranking and I did not play too much”.
Kei Nishikori played his first tournament of the 2024 season at the Miami Masters 1000 tournament, where he lost to Sebastian Ofner in the first round. The Japanese player upset Alex Michelsen and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to reaching the quarter final at the Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal. He advanced to another quarter final at the ATP 500 in Tokyo and won the ATP Challenger in Helsinki.
Kei Nishikori: “I never lose the motivation. It’s always there. Some reason I cannot explain, but motivation is always there. I am looking forward to getting my tennis back”
