Top seed Kei Nishikori cruised into the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a straight-sets victory over Benoit Paire of France on Tuesday.

The world No. 6 from Japan wrapped up the 6-4, 6-3 win against his 65th-ranked opponent at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in 1 hour, 21 minutes.

Nishikori, coming off a semifinal loss to Stan Wawrinka at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, broke Paire three times while holding serve throughout the match.

The 29-year-old U.S. Open semifinalist will meet 77th-ranked Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the second round. The unseeded Hurkacz advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 win over French qualifier Corentin Moutet.

Second seed Roger Federer, who is chasing his 100th ATP Tour title in Dubai, earlier defeated Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.