Former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori feels he needs more time to reach full fitness after losing at a Newport Beach ATP Challenger Tour event in his first match since undergoing wrist injury.
Nishikori went down 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the opening round to American Dennis Novikov.
Having reached the 2017 Australian Open fourth round, he was forced to withdraw from this year's first grand slam and chose the second-tier event in California to launch his comeback.
"I had expected it to be tough and it was," Nishikori said.
"I'm not confident yet so I can't hit aggressive shots. It's going to take some time. I made mistakes where I shouldn't have, and there are a lot of gaps I need to fill. There were both good and bad."
Nishikori was world No.9 before suffering the right wrist injury ahead of last August's Cincinnati Masters.
He had been to return at the season-opening Brisbane International, where he was runner-up in 2017, but withdrew to continue his recovery.
The 28-year-old became the first Japanese man to reach a grand slam final at the 2014 US Open but did not compete at Flushing Meadows last year because of his injury.
Counting the positives, Nishikori said he did not feel any pain during his one hour and 47-minute match.
"Just because I didn't play well today, I'm not going to get negative. I'll keep working hard," he said.
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