Inspired Kei Nishikori Wins Third ATP Title, Ready For London ATP Final

The Japanese tennis superstar Kei Nishikori thrilled his home fans as he won over Ivan Dodig of Crotia with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on Wednesday. The first Asian man to reach a Grand Slam final won his third ATP title in Kuala Lumpur last week.

The fourth seeded Nishikori beat Dodig twice this season after a victory in Madrid. The 24-year-old spent just less than 90 minutes in front of ten thousand Japanese spectators to earn his victory against Dodig, who became increasingly frustrated with both the Hawkeye computerised line calling system and the ballboys. Nishikori is now set to face Donald Young after defeating the American in both of their previous ATP matches.

"Winning Kuala Lumpur gave me more confidence. I try not to pay attention to the crowd or what the opponent is doing, but it's always good to play at home. I can feel the support here," the 24-year-old claimed, according to a report in The National.

Kei Nishikori will bring his confidence on court into the concluding weeks of the ATP season at the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals in London, with hopes of becoming the first Asian man to qualify for the season finale that features only the top eight world-ranked tennis players. Thus far, Japan's pride in tennis is working to become the first Asian to make it to the eight-strong field in November. Currently, Nishikori stands provisional sixth with still five spots remaining to be filled over the next month of the regular-season ATP play. "I'm sixth now and I'm really hoping to qualify for the World Tour Finals," Nishikori said on Tuesday at the Japan Open after a doubles win.

According to the Malaysian Open champion, this is the first year that he has the chance to reach the final and he is happy with his sixth standing but he claimed that he still needs to do a lot of work over the next weeks.

In the event that Nishikori reaches the Tokyo semi-finals or even better, he will add Emirates ATP Ranking points to his ATP Race to London this week. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are already sure qualifiers for the prestigious season finale.