Rising Chinese tennis star Shang Juncheng retired hurt on Monday in his first round match against Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Australian Open.

After losing the first set in a tiebreak, Shang had a medical timeout after the fifth game of the second set. He returned but moved gingerly before retiring hurt with Davidovich Fokina leading 7-6 (1), 5-2 in a match that lasted an hour and 51 minutes.

Shang Juncheng of China hits a return during the men's singles 1st round match between Shang Juncheng of China and Davidovich Fokina of Spain at Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

The clash had been rescheduled after storms in Melbourne on Sunday led to a suspension of some matches on the outside courts.

It was ultimately a bitter disappointment for Shang, who returned to the scene of his breakout having memorably reached the third round of last year's Australian Open.

His achievement kick-started a strong season for Shang, who cracked the top 50 in the rankings by year's end.

There have been big expectations over Shang, ranked 16 places higher than Davidovich Fokina but having lost twice to the Spaniard last year, including a tempestuous clash at the Madrid Open.

The left-handed Shang made a fast start by breaking Davidovich Fokina in the third game, but nervously failed to close out the first set on his serve in the 10th game.

He let slip a set point as he was broken after an error-strewn game, but regrouped immediately to break back.

Shang again could not seal the set on his serve after failing to convert three set points in a marathon 12th game. A despondent Shang then crumbled in the tiebreak, but shrugged off that disappointment with an early break in the second set.

Shang, once again, let slip the initiative and had a medical timeout after the fifth game. He looked restricted in his movement on resumption, often flexing his right leg, before retiring hurt.

Shang told reporters after the match that there would be a stinging pain in his right foot when he wore tennis shoes - a situation that he has experienced since he came to Melbourne last week to prepare for the Australian Open.

In order to cope with this situation, Shang took two painkillers before playing, and took two more during the medical timeout, but eventually he was unable to finish the match.

"If you play, you have to go all out to finish the match and try to win, no matter who the opponent is, or how your physical condition is," Shang said, "But I think it is really a pity today. I have the feeling of playing well and believe I can win today's match, but it is really impossible physically."

Davidovich Fokina will play 29th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round.