A day after veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm turned back the tennis clock, it was the turn of Japan’s tennis young gun to impress at the Australian Open.

Tournament 16th seed Kei Nishikori reached the third round with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-1 win over Argentine Carlos Berlocq.

The 22-year-old is young enough to be the son of Date-Krumm, 42, who on Tuesday became the oldest women’s winner at the Open since it became professional in 1968.

“Oh, my God, it was amazing – you see a score 6-2 6-0 against an almost top-10 player (world No.12 Nadia Petrova) and, yeah, I saw some points and she was playing great,” Nishikori said.

“Hopefully she wins … tomorrow and she’s making (more) history.

“It’s good for Japan, for sure.”

Nishikori is also turning heads – he made history at the Australian Open last year when he was the first Japanese player in the modern era to reach a men’s quarter-final.

He was also the first Japanese player to win his home country’s Open in its 41-year history and reached a career-high ranking of 19.

Nishikori made a wobbly start to this month when a left knee injury forced him out of the Kooyong Classic, but he was able to play a practice match before the Australian Open.

There was a big contingent of Japanese fans at show court three on Wednesday morning to watch Nishikori and he is enjoying the attention.

Asked if this felt like his home grand slam tournament, Nishikori said “for sure”.

“It’s the Asia grand slam, and, you know, like you see today, I had a lot of support … and that makes me play better.

“Yeah, I love it.”

Nishikori’s next opponent will be Russian Evgeny Donskoy, who upset compatriot and 23rd seed Mikhail Youzhny 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 3-6 6-3.