Being kept honest by a player without an official world ranking would discourage most. But Australian No.1 Bernard Tomic walked away convinced he was ready to crack tennis’ elite this year. Little was expected from a South Korean outfit without their top six players in Brisbane on Friday but world No.36 Tomic was forced to dig deep to ensure Australia drew first blood in their Davis Cup tie. Tomic, 19, admitted he was given a huge fright as Min-Hyeok Cho – who had a career-high ranking of 666 – gave the Wimbledon quarter-finalist a devil of a time in the 7-5 6-3 6-3 result. Stepping up for Australia in the injury absence of Lleyton Hewitt (foot) proved more difficult than first thought. But Tomic still believed the time was right to stake a top-10 claim. “I have got the right tennis to be up there but I need to make one more step to get into the top 10,” Tomic said. “If I do all the right things, it will happen for me in the next few months – this is where I can make it happen with my (ranking) points. “To become great, you need something different, something extra. “That’s what I have to develop and I am going to keep doing it until it happens.” Tomic said there was plenty to learn off the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. “I am lucky enough to be playing these guys now and have an understanding of what they are like, and how far I have to improve,” he said. “I can only keep improving (because)… I know what it takes to beat them.” But Tomic believed taking on lesser lights like Cho, 25, would also help. “The better the player, the better you play – especially for me,” he said. “The trick is playing against guys like this (Cho) who are lower ranked – it will help me build my game. “In the future, when you are at the top, you can only play worse players than yourself so you have to lift – he (Cho) was a good player to work on these things.” Tomic looked concerned when he was broken in the match’s opening game before Cho saved three break points to lead 3-1. Tomic held on to claim the first two sets but the plucky Cho would not be discouraged. Tomic broke to lead 2-1 in the third set, only to have Cho return the favour immediately and serve out the next game to lead 3-2. Tomic then limped off to receive treatment for a thigh complaint he later played down. However, Tomic regrouped to rattle off the next four games to extend his Cup singles record to 6-1. Tomic credited some “tough love” from captain Pat Rafter for the hard-fought win. Asked what advice Rafter offered, Tomic said: “Some of the things you don’t want to know. “(But) sometimes you need a bit of advice from someone like that to lift.” Winning the tie will advance Australia to the World Group playoffs in September.