Kei Nishikori, a tennis player, was born on December 29, 1989, in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. He began playing tennis at the age of five. In 2001, he won the All Japan Junior Championships, the All Japan Elementary School Championships, and the All Japan Junior 12 and Under Championships, becoming the fifth player in history to achieve this triple crown. In 2003, he moved to the United States and studied at the IMG Academy in Florida. He turned professional in 2007 and won the Delray Beach International Championship in 2008, his first ATP Tour victory, earning him the ATP World Tour Best Newcomer Award that year. At the US Open that same year, he became the first Japanese player in 71 years to reach the quarterfinals in the men's singles. Although he suffered a stress fracture in his right elbow the following year, he returned to the tour in 2010. In 2011, he achieved the remarkable feat of defeating world number one Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors.

He continued to place fifth at the 2012 London Olympics and won the Rakuten Japan Open. In 2013, he won the Memphis Tournament and became Japan's ace in the Davis Cup. In 2014, he continued to win the Memphis Tournament for two consecutive years, achieving top-class results in each tournament, eventually reaching fifth place in the world rankings. He also reached the US Open final and became the first Asian player to achieve the honor of finishing second in a Grand Slam.

In 2011, UNIQLO signed a contract with Kei Nishikori and has been developing tennis apparel for him. He is also known as a TAG Heuer ambassador, and in 2013, they released the collaborative model "Aquaracer 500M Chronograph Air-K Japan Limited Edition." In 2014, he participated in the TAG Heuer-sponsored charity event, "KEI for KIDS by TAG Heuer." In addition, Google ranked Nishikori as the number one "hot topic (male)" in its search rankings for 2014.