James Frawley jokes he might have to ask world No. 30 Nick Kyrgios to return the favour as a hitting partner if he reaches his Australian Open dream.
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Less than a year ago Frawley had front-row seats to the Kyrgios show in Melbourne as his childhood mate's training partner, soaking up the hype, crowds and excitement as part of the entourage.
The buzzing fans prompted Kyrgios to joke that Frawley would be too nervous to make his shots on the practice courts in preparation for the big matches at Melbourne Park.
It gave Frawley a taste of the big stage and now he's chasing an Australian Open chance of his own when he teams with Alison Bai for the wildcard mixed double play-offs.
Frawley and Bai will combine for a bid to earn a spot in the first grand slam of 2016 and Bai will double up in the women's singles event from Monday.
Frawley has seen it all before as Kyrgios' training mate, travelling around Australia, to Wimbledon and Malaysia this year as a hitting partner.
The unassuming 21-year-old has just finished his commerce degree and doesn't know whether he'll pursue a professional tennis career next year.
But after getting a taste of what it's like on the big stage, Frawley hopes he and Bai secure a place at the Australian Open by winning the wildcard.
"It's definitely a strange feeling sitting there in the stands [when Kyrgios plays]. We don't have a set plan for training, he might just call me up and ask me to come to London for a month as a hitting partner," Frawley said.
"We played doubles together at the Malaysian Open … I can sit back a bit when the fans are there.
"Even at the Aussie Open there were people there [at training] and they were stirring me up that I wasn't going to hit a ball in because I was so nervous. It's definitely fun, it's harder for him obviously.
"It's definitely exciting to think you could be playing as well [if we get in mixed doubles]."
A mixed doubles wildcard would be the perfect way to ignite a professional career.
"I played at the junior Australian Open with Nick in doubles. I'll think about what I'm going to do in the new year, I'm not too sure yet," Frawley said.
"When I was young I took tennis pretty seriously and stopped going to school to focus on it. I kind of lost the enjoyment factor a bit, so it's good to take a step back and have a bit more fun with it."
Bai played at the junior Australian Open as a 16-year-old, but hasn't been able to crack into the senior main draw.
The 25-year-old will be the No. 3 seed and hopes she can clinch a wildcard, but is refusing to look too far ahead "because it will freak me out".
"All my friends are saying I've got a great chance of winning [the wildcard], but I'm not thinking about it because when I do everything goes bad," Bai said.
"Studying at university as well has helped keep me sane. I took a break when I was a junior ... I thought if I took a step back and didn't put too much pressure on myself, the tennis would catch up later.
"Now I'm loving tennis as much as I ever have. Now I'm older and playing for the fun, you can see the results are getting better with less pressure."
Bai is ranked 320 in the world and No. 8 in Australia and hopes she can breakthrough for an Australian Open dream.
"I didn't quite achieve my ranking goal this year but I still enjoy playing. When you're a little kid ... playing in the main draw Australian Open singles is a massive goal. To get a chance to play would be massive."
