Sixth seeded Kei Nishikori eliminated David Ferrer at the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris on Friday to become the first Asian to have qualified at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.

The 2012 tournament champion started off aggressive in the first set as he knew he had to win this match in order to keep his hopes alive in the Race to London.

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The fourth seeded Spaniard jumped out early as he broke the 24-year-old Japanese once mid-way and served out for the set.

The Japan Open titlist went head-to-head against the Cincinnati Masters finalist in the second set and forced the Spaniard to a tie-break, which Nishikori eventually won seven games to four.

It started out the same in the third set as both Nishikori and Ferrer held on to their servres but the Malaysian Open winner capitalized on a crucial break in Ferrer's serve at 4-all to go up ahead in the decider that Nishikori eventually held on to his serve to finish the match 3-6 7(7)-6(5) 6-4.

The U.S. Open finalist just eliminated Ferrer in the eight-man short list of the year-ending event.

This is Nishikori's first event after the Shanghai Rolex Masters in China early October and with the win, he had just placed himself in history books as the first ever Japanese and Asian to have qualified at the prestigious tournament.

With Ferrer's loss and Rafael Nadal out for the remainder of the season due to appendectmoy, the field is now set in London as Nishikori, Shenzhen Open titlist Andy Murray, Stockholm Open champ Tomas Berdych and Canadian star Milos Raonic had clinched their spot along with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, Australian Open victor Stan Wawrinka and U.S. Open title holder Marin Cilic. 

TagsKei Nishikori, David Ferrer, Paribas Masters, ATP World Tour