Nishikori beats stand-in Ferrer, qualifies after Murray fails
ByReuters
Updated 13/11/2014 at 20:53 GMT
Japan's Kei Nishikori surged to a three-set victory over alternate David Ferrer at the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday - a win good enough to carry him into the last four after Andy Murray's failure to beat Roger Federer in straight sets.
Kei Nishikori of Japan reacts during his ATP World Tour finals Group B against David Ferrer of Spain at the O2 Arena in London (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
The 24-year-old lost the opening set to the gritty Spaniard, a late stand-in for injured Milos Raonic, but played beautifully after that to seal a 4-6 6-4 6-1 win -- his second in Group B after also beating Andy Murray.
The result was enough to guarantee six-times champion Roger Federer a place in the semi-finals even before the Swiss walked on court to face home favourite Murray in the evening session.
Federer took the first set 6-0 against Murray to ensure Nishikori of his place in the last four.
Nishikori found out shortly before walking on court that Ferrer would be on the other side of the net, not the big-serving Raonic, and it took him time to adapt.
"It was really difficult to make this adjustment - they told me one hour before the match, it was tough to change tactics but I'd prepared well and I'm happy to win today," the Florida-based world number five said.
"The third set was almost perfect."
Near sell-out crowds at the O2 Arena had not been treated to a three-setter at the tournament before Thursday's action but when Ferrer stepped in for a brief cameo role the likelihood was that he would provide a toe-to-toe battle.
Ferrer, beaten in nearly three hours by Nishikori in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters, a result that scuppered his hopes of qualifying for the year-ender by right, hit back from a break down to snatch a high-quality opening set.
From then on, however, US Open runner-up Nishikori showed why he has become a trailblazer for Asian tennis, unleashing his full repertoire of fiercely struck groundstrokes and silky drop shots to run Ferrer into the ground.
After converting his first set point in the second set with a backhand winner, Nishikori raced ahead in the decider against a tiring opponent who will return home around $160,000 (£102,000) richer for his brief appearance in London.
Earlier doubles second seeds Daniel Nestor (Canada) and Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia) beat Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez in a deciding set tiebreak to keep alive their hopes of a semi-final berth.
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