Kei Nishikori is confident his Japanese compatriot Naomi Osaka will learn to cope with pressure as she deals deal with her new elite status in tennis. Nishikori, playing as top seed at the Dubai Championships starting on Monday ahead of seven-time champion Roger Federer, has been-there, done that-in terms of national superstardom.

But he believes that the painfully shy 21-year-old ranks ahead of him as a national sporting hero after winning back-to-back Grand Slam titles at New York and Melbourne and igniting fresh tennis hysteria across the Pacific.

"It's much more than me, maybe a year ago she wasn't ranked top 10. Suddenly everything changes: she's No. 1, I've (only) been Top 3 before.

"There is more pressure, for sure. Being No.1, winning Grand Slams, that's something I never had before. It's a bit different. It's more than me, I think."

The 28-year-old said Osaka will eventually find her way into a public comfort zone.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019