Nishikori Beats Shang for 452nd Win at Washington Farewell

The Champion Returns to Rock Creek Park

When Kei Nishikori stepped onto the hard courts at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on Monday, he carried eleven years of memory with him. The 36-year-old Japanese veteran, who announced his retirement from professional tennis in April 2026, received a wild card to compete at the Mubadala DC Open — and made the most of it immediately, defeating Chinese rising star Juncheng Shang 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4 in 2 hours and 31 minutes to reach the second round.

The match was never straightforward. Shang, 22, won the opening-set tiebreak to take the first set, and a brief but real doubt hung over the proceedings: was the farewell tour hero going to exit early? Nishikori, whose defining quality across two decades has been composed resilience under pressure, settled from the second set onwards and took the match with a controlled third. He told reporters afterwards it was "not easy at first", adding that he played "better from set two onwards" and finished with a "very solid third set".

Career Win Number 452, and Twenty Straight Years

The victory was Nishikori's 452nd career ATP win — his first on tour since the Geneva tournament in May 2025. It extended a remarkable personal record: he has now won at least one ATP-level match in every season from 2007 through 2026, a streak of twenty consecutive years without interruption.

Washington holds a particular place in that story. In 2015, Nishikori lifted the trophy here, defeating John Isner in the final after dropping the opening set — a comeback that captured everything that made him so hard to beat. The run confirmed him as a genuine top-five player and remains one of the 12 ATP titles on his career record. He was also the 2014 US Open finalist, becoming the first Asian man in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam men's final. This week marks his ninth main-draw appearance in the American capital.

In recent interviews, Nishikori spoke candidly about the physical deterioration that made retirement unavoidable. He described suffering pain in three or four areas of his body simultaneously, making the preparation required at the highest level impossible to sustain. Since lightening his schedule and accepting the end is near, something has shifted: "I'm starting to like tennis again as I approach my finale," he said before the tournament.

Wildcard Zheng becomes first Chinese champion in Beijing, beats Andreeva

Fils or Jodar Await in the Second Round

Japanese supporters turned out in strong numbers to watch Nishikori practice this week, flags and replica kit visible in the stands at Rock Creek Park — a snapshot of the sustained following he built over twenty years in the game. His career is set to conclude in Asia in the autumn, at a series of events to be confirmed.

At Washington, his second-round opponent will be the winner of Tuesday's all-or-nothing clash between Arthur Fils and Rafael Jodar — billed as one of the most eye-catching first-round matches of the week. Should Fils, ranked inside the world's top 15, advance, Nishikori would face a significant step up in class. He has already answered the first question this week.