Nishikori breezes into second round

Confident Kei Nishikori of Japan on Tuesday shrugged off the pressure of being Asia's leading man after sweeping into the second round of the Australian Open in straight sets.

Nishikori, who beat France's Stephane Robert 6-1, 7-6 (9/7), 6-0, has climbed to 26th in the world following a string of impressive performances, including a win late last year against world number one Novak Djokovic.

The 22-year-old is seeded in Melbourne for the first time at a grand slam but said he had tried to put his new-found status to the back of his mind.

"I try not to think about it because if I start thinking, you know, it's more pressure. So it is different, but I try to not think about it."

And Nishikori, ranked as low as 98th at the end of 2010, said any pressure he felt was more to do with his higher ranking than as a result of being the best Asian men's player.

"(My ranking) gives me a little bit of pressure because I feel like I have to win with these guys. I have to play with lower-ranked guys now. That gives me a little bit of pressure."

"A lot of Asians are coming, so I'm proud that I'm one of the guys," he added.

Nishikori, the highest-ranked Japanese men's player ever, said his goal was to reach the quarterfinals in Melbourne, which would top his previous best performance at a Grand Slam.

"I played the US Open 2008 and I made the last 16. That's the next goal for me," he said.

While the likes of China's French Open champion Li Na have boosted the profile of Asia's women players, Nishikori is the only Asian man in the top 50, with the next highest ranked being Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun, at 79.