'Exhausted' Nishikori 'excited' for London Finals

Japanese tennis ace Kei Nishikori has admitted that his body is hurting following a tumultuous season during which he established himself as a potential Grand Slam winner, but has also said that he is really excited to go to London.

Nishikori is set to go to London next week where the speedy Japanese star becomes the first Asian-born 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 where he lost to Marin Cilic, made sure of his ticket to London on Friday when he defeated David Ferrer in the Paris Masters quarterfinals, Sport24 reported.

That match lasted two hours and 43 minutes and ended half an hour after midnight, less than 17 hours before Nishikori took to the Bercy Indoor Arena court once again to take on the world's best player, Novak Djokovic, in the semifinals.

Djokovic, coming off a couple of weeks off to mark the birth of his son Stefan, dominated from the start winning 6-2, 6-3 in just 62 minutes against an exhausted and leaden-footed Nishikori.

Nishikori said that maybe he was a little bit tired, adding that his body wasn't 100 percent ready for that match. He said that he had three tough matches before there, and his serve wasn't 100 percent.

Still, Nishikori said that 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. And he had no doubt that with a few days of rest he would be ready to take on the challenge of playing in an elite eight-man field.

The Japanese star said that he is really excited to go to London next week, adding that it's his first time to reach the finals. He said that it's going to be a lot of tension and he might get nervous first match, but added that he would try to enjoy the moment.

Nishikori also said that he has been playing really well this year, so he thinks he has a chance to do well. Hopefully he added that he could recover well next week and try to be ready for London.