Kei Nishikori makes Hong Kong Open final after Shang Juncheng retires

Kei Nishikori of Japan has advanced to the men's singles final at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Hong Kong Open in south China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) after his opponent, Shang Juncheng of China, retired from the semifinals on Saturday.

Both held all of their service games as the first set reached a 4-3 lead for Nishikori. Then Shang decided to retire before of discomfort resulted by fever.

Shang told reporters after the match that he had been suffering from a fever for days.

"When I woke up this morning, I felt terrible with my whole body," Shang said. "I felt the same yesterday and I didn't know how I won that match. I felt uncomfortable the whole time on the court. Today, I thought I reached my limit. If I continued to force my way, it could damage both my body and future competitions. I talked to my team and we decided that I would retire if I didn't feel well."

Nishikori revealed that he hadn't expected to reach the final in his first ATP Tour event this year and felt sorry for Shang.

"I feel bad that my opponent retired because of discomfort," the Japanese veteran said. "He performed well even in such poor condition. I don't know what to say except to wish him a quick recovery so he can appear in the Australian Open."

Nishikori will face Alexandre Muller of France in the final. Muller came back to defeat Jaume Munar of Spain 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the other semifinals.