"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."
