Tennis: Teenage Croatian terrier looks to follow in footsteps of superstar idol Nadal

Fans who attended the 2004 Heineken Open will have one abiding memory - watching a 17-year-old Rafael Nadal make a run to the tournament's final.

Whether a similar story will be told about Borna Coric in a decade from now remains to be seen but, as he showed by beating Nadal in October, the teenager possesses the potential to reach the top of the sport.

Coric last year became the first 17-year-old since Nadal to break into the world's top 100, an achievement rewarded with the ATP Star of Tomorrow prize. Now 18, the Croatian wildcard is an intriguing prospect in this week's Auckland field.

The world No95 could be bundled out in the first round, with the draw pitching him against 49th-ranked Pablo Carreno Busta. But there's no doubting Coric has the confidence to knock over bigger names.

And while Coric was somewhat more circumspect when assessing his prospects this week, he doesn't expect to be battling players ranked 50 places above him for too much longer.

"I'm going to go match by match because I still don't think I'm the favourite in these matches," he said of his approach in Auckland.

"Rankings-wise, I'm not better than who I'm going to play in the first round or in the second round.

"But I just want to - as soon as possible - go in the top 50, the top 30, whatever. I don't want to stay here. It's good now being in the top 100 but I want to go up as soon as I can."

A repeat of last year's breakout season, when he rose 250 spots in the world rankings, will aid that goal. After reaching his first ATP quarter-final in Croatia, Coric qualified for the US Open and knocked out world No29 Lukas Rosol in the first round.

That burgeoning form continued in Basel, where he beat Heineken Open top seed Ernests Gulbis before advancing to the semifinals by dispatching world No3 Nadal, a player he idolised while growing up.

"At first I just couldn't believe that I was going to play him and I didn't know exactly what to expect," Coric said. "[Nadal] obviously didn't play his best tennis. He was struggling, especially in the first set - I was leading 5-0 and that's not normal.

"It meant a lot to me but I can't look any more in the past. I have new tournaments coming and new matches coming, so I need to focus on them."