HONG KONG, January 4, 2025 (Press Release)
Kei Nishikori has reached his first ATP Tour singles final since 2019 after his opponent Shang Juncheng retired due to illness at 3-4 in the first set of their semifinal at Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open (“BOCHKTO”) 2025. Shang came out firing on all cylinders and was able to stay level with the Japanese former US Open finalist until 3-all before conceding the next game, and the match.
“I’m very happy. This is a very good gift for me to have the final, I’ll do my best,” said 35-year-old Nishikori, who has suffered a multitude of injuries in recent seasons.
“I feel close to my best. I don’t know about Top 5. With Sinner and (Carlos) Alcaraz it’s a little different, but I feel almost there. Physically I’m strong. It’s a great sign I’ve been beating top players here like Karen (Khachanov) and (Cameron) Norrie.
“Yeah, I didn’t expect to be in the final at the beginning of the year, but I’ve been playing well. It’s a shame that he (Shang) wasn’t feeling well, he still played pretty good! I hope he recovers well for Australian Open.”
Safe to say, @keinishikori is enjoying the Hong Kong cuisine #BOCHKTO #ATP #HKCTA #HKTS#ConnectEveryExcitement #BOCHK #CSTB pic.twitter.com/lAWgUysLsv
— Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open (@Hkto_mens) January 4, 2025
Fan favourite Shang, who addressed the crowds on centre court after his retirement, said: “I had a really bad fever last night, today has been a really tough day. Me standing here is a miracle. I didn’t want to let you all down, but I’m sorry. I’ll be back next year to hopefully see some familiar faces. Thanks for all the love and support.”
The 35-year-old will play France’s Alexandre Muller for the title on Sunday afternoon at Victoria Park Tennis Centre Court after the doubles final. The conqueror of the tournament’s No. 4 seed Arthur Fils beat Jaume Munar of Spain in a titanic three-set struggle today. His 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 win was his fourth match in a row at BOCHKTO 2025 where he came back from a set down to secure victory.
Muller said: “It was another tough match again. Like all the matches this week I was down and still got the win. I’m just happy for another final and I will do my best,” said the world No.67.
“I think everybody knows how amazing Nishikori is as a player. For sure, it’s going to be a great battle and I hope I can take home the title. It would be a big achievement. Not many players have one title on the Tour. I would be very proud.”
Finals Day, 5 January 2025, will kick off with the Doubles Final at 2.00pm local time between Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev and Sander Arends of the Netherlands and Great Britain’s Luke Johnson.
The unseeded pairing of Arends and Johnson eliminated both the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds en-route to the final, while Khachanov and Rublev recovered superbly from their unexpected losses in singles to beat the tournament’s doubles No. 1 seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in their semifinal on Saturday, 7-6(3), 6-3.
