Kei Nishikori is still confident he will be ready for Wimbledon despite withdrawing from Halle with a calf injury.
The 25-year-old retired down 1-4 against Andreas Seppi in the semifinals, but said he experienced the injury during his previous match. Though he won that match in three sets, the injury persisted the following day.
"But today was a little pain this morning and I tried in the match, but couldn’t really move," he said.
However, he indicated that the retirement was precautionary. "I don’t want to take a big risk for Wimbledon," he said. "But I’m sure it’s going to be okay."
Seppi, benefitting from an injured opponent twice during the week, fell in the Halle final to Roger Federer, who won his eighth title at the event.