Bernard Tomic's disappointment at being knocked out of the first round of the Sydney International on Wednesday was tempered by his delight at having been granted a wild card for next week's Australian Open.
The Australian teenager's 6-7 6-1 6-2 defeat to Alexandr Dolgopolov was drawn out overnight because of rain but Tomic was pleased with his week's work having won three matches to come through qualifying and reach the main draw.
"I couldn't be happier," the 18-year-old former Australian Open junior champion told reporters.
"I played three good matches here. I've actually beaten three top 100s in a row, and I think this is confidence for me leading into next week."
Tomic, ranked 209th in the world, will be joined in the Melbourne Park men's draw by Carsten Ball (158th), while Sally Peers (151st) and Sophie Ferguson (130th) got the last two discretionary wild cards into the women's draw.
