TOKYO: Just a year after making his professional tennis debut, Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori has emerged a local superstar, drawing more spectators at the Open here last week than 13-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer did in the final two years ago.

The 18-year-old tennis prodigy was knocked out of the Japan Open in a third-round clash against Richard Gasquet last Thursday, but for the local crowd, “Air Kei” was the tournament’s top attraction.

The Japan Open saw a weekday record of 13,536 spectators for the Nishikori-Gasquet showdown — just larger than the crowd that watched Federer defeat Britain’s Tim Henman in the 2006 final.

Nishikori, whose every move has attracted heavy coverage on Japanese television, was modest about his dramatic change in fortunes from last year, when he debuted at the Japan Open as a virtual unknown. “I feel that time really flies. I can go onto the court more relaxed. That’s the difference from last year,” Nishikori told reporters at the Open.

But Nishikori, currently the world’s number 77, vowed to do better. “This is the only (ATP) tournament being played in Japan, so I really want to win it, as well as a Grand Slam title. I will of course come back next year and try to win,” he added.