A move to the United States and debuts in grand slam main draws have proved invaluable to teenage tennis star Bernard Tomic as he strives towards cracking the world's top 100.
After making his way to the top of the juniors, the 16-year-old from the Gold Coast has dipped his toes in the water of the men's draws at three majors this season.
At the same time, Tomic and his family have been settling into their new home in Florida so the teenager can hone his skills at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy as he works towards his goal of becoming a top-100 player.
Tomic stunned the tennis world at the Australian Open in January when, as a wildcard entrant, he was the youngest player to reach the second round of a grand slam.
Tomic was then handed a wildcard entry the French Open but made a quick first-round exit, before losing his final-round qualifying match at Wimbledon.
The 2008 Australian Open junior champion says while it has been hard sometimes to adjust his game between the boys' and men's draws, mixing it with the pros has helped him improve his game.
"No doubt in my head when you play juniors it's a bit difficult if you've played a lot of senior matches," Tomic said after winning his third-round juniors match at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
"What I found out ... at the senior level, you just got to play big and there's no short balls.
"Once I start doing that in juniors, I'm not playing my game and it gets a bit difficult after that, I start pushing the ball.
"But seniors is starting to help me a lot and I think I'm going well.
"I just have to keep improving."
Tomic became the youngest open-era winner of the Australian Open junior boys' in the when he took the title as a 15-year-old in 2008.
The same year he made the quarter-finals of the French Open juniors and reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
As he has switched between the juniors and men's draws this season, Tomic's world ranking has soared by more than 400 places to No.354.
He now has his sights firmly set on cracking the top 100.
"I felt a bit of the senior level and I know I can play," he said.
"It's going to take me time to get in the top 150 or 100."
Tomic said having a new base at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, whose alumni include Venus and Serena Williams, Andre Agassi and Mark Philippoussis, had made travelling to tournaments easier and given him a wider choice of practice partners.
"Everything is all in one (at the academy), whereas on the Gold Coast I'm always relying on one person to hit." he said.
"I can't do that. I need 10 different players.
"That place is really good. I think I can improve there a lot next year."
Tomic was due to play his junior boys' quarter-final at Wimbledon, where he is the No.3 seed, against German ninth seed Dominik Schulz tonight.
LONDON AAP
