Kei Nishikori's Hong Kong SF opponent laments playing through 'bad fever' after retiring mid-match

Kei Nishikori's semifinal opponent at the Hong Kong Open, Juncheng Shang revealed that he had to retire from the match due to an illness, as he had a fever the previous night.

19-year-old Shang, who won his first ATP title at the Chengdu Open in 2024, was looking to reach his second ATP final against a much-experienced opponent. He still managed to hold all three service games, before quitting at 3-4 in the first set.

After retiring, Shang apologized to the crowd and said that he did not want to let them down.

"I am really sorry about tonight. I really had a bad fever last night, today it has been a very tough day," Sheng said. "Me standing here is a miracle, I didn't want to let you guys down but I am sorry, I will be back next year to see familiar faces again. Thank you guys for all the love."

Shang's retirement gave Kei Nishikori, who turned 35 last week, a place in his first ATP final since 2019. The Japanese veteran, who reached his only Grand Slam final at the 2014 US Open, last won an ATP title at Brisbane in 2019, when he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the final.

Kei Nishikori to face Alexandre Muller in Hong Kong Open final

Kei Nishikori will face France's Alexander Muller in the final, who has reached the final after beating Marc-Andrea Huesler, Miomir Kecmanovic, Arthur Fils and Jaume Munar.

Interestingly, the 27-year-old Frenchman lost the first set in all four matches and still managed to make a comeback.

Ranked 67th in the ATP Rankings, Muller reached his second ATP final, as he had lost his first final last year at Grand Prix Hassan II, Morocco, against Roberto Carballes Baena.

Nishikori, on the other hand, defeated former World No. 10 Denis Shapovalov in the first round, third seed Karen Khachanov in the second round and former World No. 8 Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinal, before Sheng retired in the semifinal against him.

Former World No. 4, Nishikori, has won 12 ATP finals, out of the 26 he has contested in his career. He has won six ATP 500 titles and six ATP 250 finals but has lost all four ATP 1000 finals.

The Japanese star had lost nine consecutive ATP finals from 2016 to 2018, which included two losses in the ATP 1000 finals against Novak Djokovic and two against Rafael Nadal, so he would not want such a streak to start once again.