Nishikori books London ticket before Paris departure

Japanese tennis star the first Asian to qualify for World Tour Finals

PARIS: Kei Nishikori admits his body is hurting after a tumultuous season that has seen him establish himself as a potential grand slam winner, but he has one last mountain to climb.

That will come in London in eight days' time when the speedy Japanese star becomes the first Asian player to contest the prestigious ATP World Tour Finals, better-known as the Masters of men's tennis.

Nishikori, who reached the final of the US Open in September but lost to Marin Cilic, made sure of his ticket to London on Friday when he defeated David Ferrer in the Paris Masters quarter-finals.

The match had lasted two hours and 43 minutes and ended half an hour after midnight, less than 17 hours before the 24-year-old took to the Bercy Indoor Arena court once again to take on the world's best player, Novak Djokovic, in the semi-finals.

Djokovic dominated from the start winning 6-2, 6-3 in just 62 minutes against a leaden-footed opponent, shorn of his biggest weapon — his speed about the court.

Nishikori knew he was in trouble from the first exchanges. "Yeah, maybe I was a little bit tired,” he said. “You know, my body wasn't 100% ready for today’s [Saturday’s] match. I had three tough matches before here, and my serve wasn't 100%.”

Still, Nishikori said he was happy with his week's work, having never got past the third round in Paris in three previous appearances in the French capital.

"I'm really excited to go to London next week. First time to reach the finals," he said. "It's going to be a lot of tension and I might get nervous in the first match, but I will try to enjoy the moment.”

There were words of encouragement too from Djokovic, who lost in four sets to Nishikori in a US Open semi-finals stunner.

"He’s still a young player, but definitely experiencing the best season of his life,” said Djokovic. “He's an all-around player and very, very quick; one of the quickest players on the tour.”

 

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