Yuichi Sugita, Japan's third-highest ranked male tennis player, revealed on Twitter late Tuesday evening he tested positive for the coronavirus.

Sugita said he had planned to compete in the Jan. 7-13 Antalya Open in Turkey but had to cancel his travel plans as he got the positive test result just before departing from his training base in Serbia.

Yuichi Sugita. (Kyodo)

"My training in Serbia went smoothly and I had planned to kick off the year with the ATP 250 event in Turkey," the world 102-ranked player wrote in his first tweet of 2021.

"Right now my fever and cough have settled and I'm feeling healthy. I'll begin preparing for the Australian Open."

Japanese No. 1 Kei Nishikori pulled out of a U.S. Open tune-up tournament last August after testing positive for coronavirus and decided to skip the Grand Slam event despite recovering.

Nishikori has entered the Feb. 8-21 Australian Open which will take place at Melbourne Park. The tournament was delayed by three weeks due to the coronavirus and players have to complete two weeks of quarantine when they enter Australia.


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