The 17-year-old tennis ace is part of an exclusive club, with his name sitting amongst the likes of Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Marcos Baghdatis, Thomas Enquist and Pat Cash as the holder of the world junior number one ranking.

The Swede was forced to qualify for the Australian Open junior event in Bendigo after missing the deadline for direct exemption into the tournament.

Despite missing out on a direct route to Melbourne Park, Berta said yesterday playing in the Bendigo tournament could be a blessing in disguise.

“If it was just practice this week I wouldn’t be playing on this sort of surface.

“I think qualifying is going to be very good for me.

``It’s really nice here (in Bendigo), it’s pretty hot, but I like it,’’ he said.

Berta had a successful 2009, winning both the French Open boys’ singles title and the Mitsubishi-Lancer International Juniors Championships to secure the top ranking at the end of the year, and he is hoping to start 2010 with success at the Australian grand slam.

“At first I didn’t know if I was going to play because I had problems with my shoulder,’’ he said.

“But I am very confident that I’m in pretty good shape.

“My goals this year are to win two grand slams and keep the top ranking.’’

Unlike the Australian Open main draw, the Australian Open junior championship has no monetary prize, but instead is played for the prestige and International Tennis Federation ranking points.

Assistant tournament director Jason Simmons said Berta will have to work hard to gain entry to the first grand slam of the year.

“To get through to the main draw from qualifying the players have to play three tough matches and they are hard-fought matches right from the start,’’ he said.

“Daniel Berta is obviously the top-ranked player in the world, but we’ve got quite a few Aussies coming through.

“We’ve got Andrew Whittington who is the top Australian in the junior boys.’’

The Australian Open junior championship, which begins this Sunday, will be hotly contested with world number two, Frenchman Gianni Meni and world number four, Australian Jason Kubler hoping to stop Berta claiming the Australian Open crown.

Kubler, who took part in the 2009 William Loud Bendigo International, also received a wildcard into the main draw of the Australian Open but was defeated by Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in the first round in straight sets.

Competition at the Australian Open Junior Championships qualifying event will begin at 9am today at the Bendigo Bank Tennis Complex.