LONDON — Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori retired from his third-round match against Richard Gasquet at the Paris Masters on Thursday with an abdominal injury.
Nishikori, who has qualified for the ATP Tour Finals in 10 days, was trailing the Frenchman 7-6(3) 4-1 when he quit.
Gasquet, the 10th seed, will now play British second seed Andy Murray.
Nishikori had just been treated by the physiotherapist for an apparent back injury at the changeover.
"After the first set, I started feeling my abs, side abs. Couldn't really hit serves. I couldn't really hit 100 percent," Nishikori told a news conference.