The Year Five student at St Bernards Primary School boosted his ranking by achieving some outstanding results in tournaments of late.

He accumulated rankings points by competing in tournaments in Sydney, Ulladulla and Nowra against older players in the 12 years and under age group.

“At Ulladulla I made it to the semis, which was pretty big points. Then at Sydney I made it to the finals and at Nowra I got to the finals in doubles and quarters in the singles so I think that boosted me up a bit,” Middleton explained.

Middleton is a member of the Batemans Bay Tennis Club and trains under the guidance of club coach Rob Frawley.

The youngster’s tennis skills have improved rapidly in recent months and Frawley said he has enjoyed watching Middleton develop.

“He came to the club for coaching about 18 months ago and he used a double-handed grip for both his forehand and backhand,” he said.

“He was still winning matches due to natural ability but his hands were all around the wrong way so we had to remodel him a bit.”

“But where he is at now is just brilliant. He’s still very young and quite small for his age but he has a massive future.”

Frawley said that the most impressive aspect of Middleton’s play is his ability to read the game.

“Brendan thinks about the game and really assesses situations during matches,” he said.

“He finds his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and really moves them around the court. He’s mentally switched on and the way he reads the game is a real asset.”

Frawley said Middleton had found the right balance between playing in tournaments and getting tennis lessons.

“He has no fear of going up against the best in the state in tournaments to see where he is at. That is a great mentality for a 10-year-old to have.”

Middleton rates current world number one Rafael Nadal as his favourtie player and says the things he likes best about tennis are “the power and speed.”

Middleton practices with 16-year-old Christian Parker. Parker said he doesn’t go easy on his younger hitting partner despite the six-year age difference.

“To be honest with him being the top 10-year-old in Australia he needs all the hard practice he can get,” he said.

“By me going hard on him, he learns what it’s like to play against a 16-year-old and then he does really well at his own level. I think he’s on his way to great things,” he said.

A child of Middleton’s age and ability could be forgiven for dreaming of winning grand slams. However, the youngster is not getting carried away and is instead focusing on a more immediate task.

“My first goal would probably be to beat Christian,” he said.

Middleton’s next tennis adventure will see him travel to Sydney for the state teams early next month. As part of the trip, Middleton will have the opportunity to have a three-hour lesson with Australian tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt.