NOT many people know Nick Lindahl, but his coach Shannon Bluhm believes that will soon change.
The 21-year-old Eleebana tennis player will represent the Hunter at the Australian Open for the second time next month.
The wildcard entry made a first-round exit in 2008, going down in four sets to Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
The then-19-year-old Lindahl only had a week to prepare for his grand slam debut, but this time around he has a month to fine-tune after beating teenage sensation Bernard Tomic in a five-set marathon on December 20 in the Australian Open play-off at Melbourne Park.
Tomic's loss to Lindahl was considered a shock upset and the headlines focused on the 17-year-old.
Bluhm was not shocked to see his protege of six years overcome the hyped Tomic.
"In the article it was five paragraphs about Tomic losing to Nick, and Nick's a higher-ranked player on the men's circuit," Bluhm said of a Melbourne newspaper report on the match.
"Tomic is a bit of a young gun, but it was no surprise to me. Nick should have won and he did with his experience and preparation."
Lindahl is ranked 251 in the world, down from a career high of 229 in September.
Born in Sweden, Lindahl moved to Eleebana when he was three months old and took up tennis aged 10.
He has spent the past three years playing on the minor circuits, and the coming month looms as the most important of his career.
On Thursday Lindahl flies to Queensland to play in the Brisbane International starting on Friday, before he heads to Homebush for a potential wildcard entry into the main draw of the Sydney International on January 9.
Lindahl is hoping the extended preparation, combined with an extra two years of experience, will make him a threat at Melbourne Park.
"I'm preparing well for it. Everything is going according to plan," Lindahl said.
"I'm fitter than last time. Now I've had a lot more preparation and everything is much more planned out, I should do better."
The past four months have been impressive for the Australian No.7, including wins over three top-100 players on a tour of California in October.
The right-hander defeated world No.25 Sam Querrey in 2008, and Bluhm said Lindahl's ability to trouble top-class players made his charge's goal of reaching the third round of the Australian Open possible.
"Obviously if he pulls a draw against a Federer, Nadal or a Djokovic it's going to be tough, but if he gets a nice draw and gets a top-100 player between 50 and 100 he's more than capable of taking that guy out," Bluhm said.
"He can cause a big upset. We're preparing for the fact he may play Federer or Nadal and not to be overawed by the situation, but go out there and play some solid tennis and put it to them and see how far he can push those sort of players."
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