It wasn’t long ago that Kei Nishikori was an integral part of a surging crop of teenagers on the ATP World Tour. Now cemented as one of the game’s elite, the Japanese opens his bid for a third Tokyo title against one of today’s brightest rising stars – 18-year-old Borna Coric.

A blockbuster matchup slated for Day One of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, Nishikori is looking forward to his first encounter with the highest-ranked teen in the Emirates ATP Rankings and has much admiration and respect for Coric’s talent.

“We’ve never played before,” Nishikori said. “We just had one practice together last week. It’s going to be a new match, but everything is going well. He’s one of the young guys playing good tennis, so it’s going to be a dangerous match.”

Nishikori carries a 14-5 record in Tokyo, claiming two titles in the last three years. He downed Milos Raonic in both the 2012 and 2014 finals, and will look to continue his quest for a second straight Barclays ATP World Tour Finals berth with even more success on home soil. Currently sitting at No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, the Shimane native is hoping to add to his 3,770-point haul.

“It’s really fun to play on the stadium here. Even on Sunday a lot of people show up for practice. It’s great for Japanese tennis. I’m very happy to be playing here. I feel comfortable and look forward to their support tomorrow.”

Should Nishikori fight past Coric, he will face either Alexandr Dolgopolov or Sam Querrey. Other seeds in his half of the draw include No. 4 Richard Gasquet, No. 6 Marin Cilic and No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov. He opens his campaign third on Center Court, with play starting at 11:00am.