Dan Evans can become a top-20 player if he keeps up his superb Australian Open form, according to former British number one Greg Rusedski.
Evans has made the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time in his career after pulling off consecutive shocks against world number seven Marin Cilic and Australian Bernard Tomic.
The British number three, ranked 51st in the world, is already set to rise to 45th but if he can cause another upset against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday he would break the top 40.
His run has been no fluke. At the US Open in September, Evans had match point against eventual champion Stan Wawrinka and he arrived in Melbourne on the back of reaching his first ATP final in Sydney.
Rusedski, who achieved a career-high ranking of fourth in 1997, believes the top 20 is a realistic target.
"Dan has impressed me out of sight. The way he is playing you're looking at a top-20 player," said Rusedski, who is part of Eurosport's live coverage of the Australian Open.
"It's an amazing achievement for Dan. We've been talking about him fulfilling his potential for quite a while but we are seeing the real Dan Evans this year.
"It is incredible what he has done. First reaching the final in Sydney for his first ATP final and now backing it up against Marin Cilic - the world number seven - and now backing it up against Bernard Tomic.
"For me, I expected him to get the job done against Tomic and he did by playing some brilliant tennis. The sliced backhand is a big weapon for him.
"But also the forehand, for a small guy, is strong too. He just keeps on going through the physical battles."
Evans will again be the under-dog against Tsonga, who has played in 14 grand slam quarter-finals and remains one of the most destructive players in the world.
The Frenchman pushed Andy Murray to five sets at Wimbledon last year but Evans is not content to rest on his laurels.
"Beating Cilic is obviously a one-off but I don't want that to be my final," Evans said.
"Backing it up is a big thing like last week (in Sydney) when I beat Dominic Thiem, the semi was the big match, just to come back, put my game on the court again. It was a big thing for me.
"Obviously Tsonga is going to be another step up. He's sort of obviously someone I watched a lot growing up.
"I watched so many of his matches in the semis and quarters of grand slams. It's going to be a little different to be playing against him. We'll see what it's like."
Source: PA
