Kei Nishikori staged a heroic comeback effort against Roger Federer in his last round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday, but ultimately fell to a three-set defeat that eliminated him from the prestigious season-ending event.
Nishikori, who was 1-1 in the group phase after being steamrolled by Novak Djokovic and overcoming Tomas Berdych in three sets, lost to Federer 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 10 minutes.
"Today I thought I was playing very good," Nishikori said. "Especially my returns — I was attacking second serves really well and I think that's why I could break (Federer) so much.