James Collieson climbed a little further up the greasy pole of the professional tennis circuit as he won matches in three successive Futures Tour events in Florida.

The 24-year-old Bermuda Davis Cup player was in the Sunshine State for a month and also competed in an ATP Challenger tournament in Tallahassee.

On his travels, Collieson learned how fine is the line between the top players on the ATP Tour and the hundreds of talented unknowns trying to make a name for themselves in tennis.

Futures Tour events are a level below Challengers and two levels below full ATP Tour events and Collieson felt his three Futures victories - all in straight sets - represented his finest achievement in tennis.

The University of North Carolina student found himself following the same path taken by budding American superstar Andy Roddick just a year before.

And in Tallahassee, he competed in the same tournament as Frenchman Cedric Kauffmann, who just a week earlier had blown three match points before going down to the great Pete Sampras in the French Open.

Today Collieson will fly to Canada to take part in two more $50,000 Futures events in Montreal over the next two weeks.

Collieson's first win came in Harbour Island Resort, Tampa, where he thrashed Rico Gore 6-0, 6-1.

His second triumph came against Tyler Wynne, who was despatched 7-5, 6-1 in Semminole. And in Hallandale Beach, Collieson saw off Germany's Christian Straka 6-4, 6-4. All three wins came on clay courts.

"I would say this is the biggest accomplishment I've had so far," said Collieson. "I even did pretty well in the matches I lost.

"Two of them I lost 6-4, 7-5. One was against Todd Reid, an Australian guy, who I found out later is the top prospect at the (world-famous) Bollitieri Academy (which produced Andre Agassi).

"The other was against the top 18-and-under player from Korea and I was 5-2 up in the second set in that match.

"There are so many guys who can hit a ball well out there - I guess Florida is really the Mecca of tennis."

Collieson became the first local to play in the main singles draw of the XL Capital Bermuda Open in April. And although he lost 6-0, 6-2 to the experienced Cecil Mamiit, he earned a precious ATP ranking point which helped him gain entry to Futures and Challenger Tour events.

"Last year, Andy Roddick was playing in the qualifying rounds of these same events and look what he's doing now," said Collieson.

"At first it was tough because I didn't know anybody, but there were loads of guys to practise with and I learned a lot about the ins and outs of what it takes to succeed.

"I learned from 17-year-olds and 28-year-olds. Everyone has a different perspective and I can improve by absorbing it. These guys are good but not that good. I think I have to learn to believe in myself more."

Collieson travelled to Tallahassee with Australian pro Lee Pearson, who encouraged him to enter the Challenger event there.

Collieson got in - and was amazingly drawn against Pearson, the world number 445 singles player, in the first qualifying round.

The Aussie won the first set easily and Collieson admitted he had given his friend too much respect. That changed in the second set as Collieson stormed into a 4-1 lead and had two break points to make it 5-1.

Collieson recalled: "At that point I thought, `if I can take a set off this guy, that would be something'. But as soon as I started thinking that, he came back and I suppose I choked a bit."

Pearson won in straight sets and also won the $50,000 tournament's doubles title.

Collieson also met Kauffmann, who lost in five sets to Sampras at Roland Garros.

"He said if he had won it would have changed his life, what with the endorsements that could have happened," said Collieson. "One week he was nearly beating Sampras in Paris, the next he was in a Florida motel playing in the same tournament as me.

"Everyone was giving him advice on what he should have done to win the match. The more I think about it, the more I think the great players have something that they're born with, an ability to win. Something it's difficult to define.

"You look at the French and Gustavo Kuerten, who survived a match point against Michael Russell and went on to win the tournament."