Young tennis ace Daniel Hammond is ready to take on some of the best tennis players his age group has to offer.
Hammond is heading to Thailand for the ITF Asia Oceania Zone Qualifiers to compete in the Boys 14 and under division. It's held in Bangkok from March 26-31.
He said he's looking forward to the opportunity to play overseas and has been hard at work.
"I'm really excited. I can't wait to play over there," he said.
"I'm not too worried about winning, it's just going to be a cool experience for me.
"I've been playing down in Auckland a lot recently and have been doing pretty well so I feel like I'm in a good place."
Hammond has constantly proven he's the best in his age group in the country but now he and coach Pete Stenberg are looking to gain experience abroad.
He heads to Melbourne immediately after landing back from the Thailand tournament.
Stenberg said Hammond certainly shows a lot of promise.
"The best thing about Daniel is his work ethic. He makes sure he trains really hard. Him and his parents put a lot into it," he said.
"He's got huge potential. I've coached a lot of kids over the last 35 years and he is one of the better ones, and he's nationally way ahead of anyone his own age."
"He's playing the top players from Japan, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and the like over in Thailand who will be a real challenge for him. He just lacks a bit of experience but he's on the same level as them."
Stenberg sees where Hammond can potentially get to in the future but it requires him to go elsewhere for tournaments which takes a bit of a financial undertaking.
"To succeed in tennis from here in Whangarei is tough," he said.
"He's got the ability but we've got to get him away from here and playing in bigger tournaments elsewhere.
"He's got a good chance of going somewhere. Most of the top players in the country come from Auckland, Canterbury or are training offshore."