Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has advanced to the semi-finals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters, but not in the manner he would have liked.

The 25th seed was leading Arthur Gea 4-1 when the 21-year-old Frenchman retired with pain in his psoas.

But there is a silver lining. After surviving deciding-set tie-breaks in his previous two matches — saving a match point against Frances Tiafoe before edging 2023 champion Hubert Hurkacz — ‘Foki’ said he needed a quick day at the office.

“Do you think I need tennis after Tiafoe and Hurkacz? I don't think so,” he said with a smile. “I'm good enough about tennis. I feel sorry for him, but I'm happy to be in the next round.

“I've been on court a lot of time, and my body has to recover. I'm blessed that I have two days more to recover better my body.”

Davidovich Fokina is on an eight-match winning streak on Chinese soil after winning the Chengdu title at the beginning of the Asian swing. In the semi-finals he will face the winner of Alexander Zverev and Alex de Minaur.

Gea, who had won 13 of his previous 15 tour-level matches, said that he was unsure whether he should take the court. But having reached the quarter-finals in his maiden ATP Masters 1000 appearance, he wanted to give it a shot.

“I felt pain in the psoas this morning. It was quite painful,” he said. “I went to the physio and did treatment and before the match I wasn't sure if I should go on court. I tried from the beginning but it was not enough to play full.

“It would have been too dangerous for the end of the season, so I couldn't continue. Of course I'm really sad but it's the best choice I could do.

“The goal is to recover quickly and then finish the season strong. I will do tests in France but hope to be 100 percent for the next tournament.”

Davidovich Fokina will play the winner of top seed Alexander Zverev and Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur in the semi-finals.