Dikkenberg takes next big step after receiving exclusive scholarship

The NTA is lauded as the pinnacle of the Tennis Australia talent development pathway and they accommodate young players at their Brisbane headquarters.

Dikkenberg is one of a just a handful of athletes to be awarded a one-year scholarship and he said that he was looking forward to the upcoming year at the academy.

"It's really exciting because only a handful of kids get selected," Dikkenberg said.

"It's been really good for me, I've got a good coach and there's some really good people around here with a lot of experience.

"Especially since I've been injured, there's so many good doctors, physios and nutritionists that have helped me get a lot better which is really good."

The scholarship includes having access to top quality coaching as well as having accommodation and flights paid for when on the road competing.

Dikkenberg made the decision to move up north from Canberra and said that he was selected based on a couple of key factors.

"I got offered to move up here and I'm staying in the boys house," he said.

"You could also take a home-based option but I choose to move up here.

"I went to a combine and there was probably 20 kids there from all around Australia which happened in October or November.

"All the coaches watched us play and they picked it a little bit on that but also on rankings, results, how we are playing and our game styles."

Dikkenberg is currently recovering from a minor back injury which has sidelined him for a couple of weeks.

The teenager is confident that he's on the road to recovery and believed that he would back on court in the coming weeks.

"Since I hurt it I had two weeks off and this past week I haven't felt it at all," he said.

"I'm feeling confident and I'm not going at 100 per cent right now, when I hit I have this heart rate monitor on and it also tracks how many shots I'm hitting.

"All the coaches have put together a plan and just said how many forehands and backhands I'll be hitting.

"So I'm just following that plan and we are taking it slow, I'm sure in a week or so I'll be back to normal which is exciting."

Dikkenberg plans to return at an event in Mornington in the next month before hopefully making the trek overseas as the cooler months kick in around the country.

"After Mornington there's a tournament a few days after in Canberra," he said.

"I'll be hoping to play in both of them and then not much for a few weeks as I'll have a training block.

"Then hopefully I'll go over to Asia and then to Europe."

Dikkenberg said his training plan had reduced due to the injury but he believed that he would once again be spending quite a bit of time on court once he's pain free.

"Right now coming off an injury I'm only hitting about an hour a day," he said.

"I've been going one day on one day off and then on my day off I'll do a fair bit of gym.

"Right now in the gym I'm probably doing six or seven hours a week and then four hours on court.

"But I'm sure once my injury settles and I'm completely pain free it'll go up to 18 plus hours a week on court."