Australian tennis icon Todd Woodbrige believes rising star Alex de Minaur could be as little as two years away from claiming his debut Grand Slam.
After a breakthrough season in 2018, de Minaur's star continued to rise this year.
The 20-year-old started 2019 in fine form, winning the Sydney International in front of his home fans.
He went on to win two more titles in Atlanta and Zhuhai before appearing in Australia's Davis Cup Finals bid last month.
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Starting the season ranked 29th in the world, de Minaur's strong showing saw him finish the year at a career-high 18.
For the past few years, Nick Kyrgios has been viewed as the most likely male Australian tennis player to win a Slam, but de Minaur is quickly changing that line of thought.
Currently ranked 30th in the world, Kyrgios dropped as low as 52nd earlier in the year.
His career high remains at 13 back in 2016, and he also rose to the mid-teens last year.
The 24-year-old has six titles to his name, including two in 2019 in Washington and Acapulco, but he has struggled in Grand Slams.
His best result at a major is a couple of quarter-finals appearances, but the Aussie firebrand is just as likely to cop a fine as he is to advance to the final four.
On their recent form, Woodbridge believes de Minaur is much closer to breaking through.
"That's not going to happen next year because physically he (Kyrgios) has to do a lot more work to win seven matches," Woodbridge said on Sport Sunday on Channel Nine.
"He's gotta win seven matches, best of five sets and he keeps breaking down.
"It goes two ways. The physicality of the body goes to the mind, and then you've got that chance of being able to (win a major).
"He doesn't have that right now.
"The one that does is Alex de Minaur.
"He's got the physicality and the mind. He's gotta get some more weapons.
"I think two more years (before he wins a Grand Slam).
"He's gotta get to a quarter, to a semi - like Ash Barty did."
De Minaur's best Grand Slam result to date is his fourth round appearance at this year's US Open.
Along the way he beat Pierre-Hughes Herbert, Cristian Garin and Kei Nishikori, before going down in three sets to Grigor Dimitrov.
