He’s the rising favorite son of Japan

Welcome to the end of Kei Nishikori’s anonymity.

The Japanese teenager was besieged by so many phone calls to his San Jose hotel room – well-wishers and interview seekers in the aftermath of his tournament title Sunday in Delray Beach, Fla. – he had to change his name on the hotel room, tennis tour officials said.

Then there was a media conference call from this week’s tour stop in San Jose on Tuesday, followed by three live TV interviews for morning shows back home in Japan. A tennis-loving nation just may have landed the male hero it has been seeking, as Nishikori stepped into the void, becoming the first Japanese ATP title winner in almost 16 years.

Onlookers said his victory over top-seeded James Blake (3-6, 6-1, 6-4) was no fluke, no odd result you often spot on the tour. The 18-year-old showed an impressive display of power and speed.

“I talk to my parents right after I won last week,” he said on the conference call. “And they told me congratulations and I almost cried, I was so happy.”

In all, he won eight matches in nine days, coming through qualifying and survived four match points in his semifinal victory against Sam Querrey of Thousand Oaks. Nishikori, at 18 years, 1 month, is the youngest winner on the tour since Lleyton Hewitt broke through at Adelaide, Australia, in 1998 at 16.

Nishikori’s progress has been hastened by his move to Nick Bollettieri’s tennis academy in Bradenton, Fla. There, his intriguing nickname is Project 45.

That’s because the goal is for him to be the top-ranked Japanese male ever; the highest ranking so far is 46. But the nickname might need a rewrite.

“In the future I want to be like top 10,” he said.

Though he said he is feeling like he can beat anyone these days, it was all said in a subdued, modest way. His timetable for arrival in the top 10?

“I hope five years,” Nishikori said.

The title moved his ranking from 244 to 131 in the world. Before the dream run in Delray Beach, one of his most treasured tennis moments unfolded in South Florida last year when he hit with Roger Federer in Miami.

“Yes, I was so nervous in the beginning, but he was so nice, and we played a couple sets but I won,” Nishikori said.

It was hard to hear him on the call, and that information didn’t sound quite right. The kid beat Federer in a set?

So he was asked again.

“Yeah, but it was practice,” Nishikori said.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com