Michael Chang does not believe Kei Nishikori would be under any sort of pressure tomorrow when he faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
If Nishikori beats Tsonga and makes it to the quarters, he would rewrite history.
No player from Japan has been able to go further than the Round of 16 in the French Open in the last 8 decades.
The last time when it had happened was in 1933.
Nishikori is actually the favourite against Tsonga despite him being lesser experienced than the Frenchman.
There are expectations with him and thus, he is believed to be going to face a little bit of heat during the contest.
But, Chang has a different opinion. He looked to play down this expectation thing.
According to Chang, Nishikori’s performance in the French Open this year has been way better. Making the pre quarters is a decent achievement already and he does not have anything to lose from here.
Speaking to the press yesterday, Chang said, “There is zero pressure on Kei. In 2014, he really had a bad tournament, but, he has had quite an impressive journey this time around.”
“We must not forget that he is not defending his title here and he wasn’t amongst the hot favourites either at the start of the tournament.”
When asked what it would be like for Nishikori to play against a player who is the darling of the French people, the coach said, “People would obviously be backing Jo, but, I am sure they would appreciate Kei’s efforts as well at times.”
“The people over here like to see quality tennis and you can expect them to applaud the opponent player too if a good shot comes off his racket. It’s always been like this here in France.”