Shang and Nishikori to Meet in All-Asian Semifinal in Hong Kong
- Edward McGhee
- Jan 4
- 3 min read
Shang Juncheng (aka Jerry Shang) and Kei Nishikori both came through tough quarterfinal matches to set up an all-Asian semifinal encounter between them at the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open. China's Shang had to fight off a fever and come back from a set down to clinch victory against Fabian Marozsan, while the Japanese former world no. 4 Nishikori had to battle through his own three-setter against the tenacious Cameron Norrie. These results set up a tantalising semifinal clash on Saturday between two players who know each other very well from their time at IMG Academy.
Shang revealed after his 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Marozsan on Friday that at 1:00 AM on the day of his match he had "a bad fever". Shang said: "This morning I woke up not feeling so good. And I was thinking some fans they came for me so like I have to get on and at least give it a try, otherwise it’s not fair for me or my team or the fans here that came to watch. So I’m really, really happy that I gave it a try, even though losing the first set was quite ugly. Again, it was a good fight and I’m happy with it". The win meant Shang had reached the semifinals in Hong Kong for the second consecutive year.
Later, wildcard entrant Nishikori came through 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 against former top-10 player Cameron Norrie of Great Britain. Norrie proved very difficult for the Japanese player to break down for much of the match but Nishikori was able to take some of the few opportunities presented to him by the Brit. Nishikori said: "Most of the game he played really solid but he gave me a little bit of a chance. First set, one game, he had a rough game. And third set too, he missed a couple and I was lucky enough to make more returns in the third set, and I was playing more aggressive, and everything worked well in the third".
For Nishikori, who came back to the tour last year after a series of injuries, it was the first time he'd reached an ATP semifinal since August 2021 in Washington: "Oh! Long time ago! Hope I can make the final. But yeah it’s been a long time. Very happy with the way I’m playing, especially with this level, Karen [Khachanov] and Cam [Norrie], not easy opponents to beat so I’m very pleased where I am right now".
The semifinal match on Saturday has multiple layers of interest, not only because Shang and Nishikori are two stars of Asian tennis, but also because it pits a legendary former top-5 player against a young up-and-comer (Nishikori is around 15 years older than Shang), while both players also know each other very well from their time training together at IMG Academy in Florida. Shang even said that they practiced together almost once a week when he was younger.
On the prospect of facing Nishikori, Shang said: "Yeah I think it’s very tricky to play against him. We have a similar playing style but he plays way faster, so I feel like there’s zero time every time I play with Kei, and I guess you just have to overpower him, kind of. Again, that probably didn’t work out for Karen [Khachanov] the other day so it’s gonna be really tricky and I’ll bring my best level and see what happens".
Meanwhile, Nishikori also expects a tough battle between the two: "I know Jerry is not an easy opponent again. He’s a great player. He moves really well, and he hits very hard, so I have to stay tough tomorrow. I’ve known him since I don’t know maybe 13, 14; he was really small. But he’s been playing really powerful right now. His serve got so much better. He has no weaknesses. He can hit both sides really good. Very fast. Yeah I have to think how to play against Jerry."
The match between Nishikori and Shang is the second match on the Centre Court in Hong Kong's Victoria Park, beginning after the other semifinal match between Alexandre Muller and Jaume Munar, which starts at 14:00 local time. Both players have had good support during the week, and we expect Saturday to be no different.
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