As a diminutive player who concedes height to almost every player he meets, Japanese star Yoshihito Nishioka is a master at thinking laterally to topple the giants of the tennis tour.
The detailed plotting of the 27-year-old, who is the eighth seed for the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships beginning on Wednesday, worked wonders in the first half of the season.
The left-hander, who defends superbly and excels when through changing the tempo and trajectory of rallies, was surging to a Top 20 Pepperstone ATP Ranking breakthrough midway through the year.
“I don’t play with power, so I have to think about how to play my points, and always have to make big plans as to how to beat my opponents before I go on to the court,” he said.
“Sometimes I think my tennis is interesting to watch, because some other players don’t do it like I do. That is the reason some of the bigger players don’t like it, that they start to panic a little bit.
“But that is the way I play. I…