Ten-time Grand Slam Rafael Nadal has lavished praise on emerging stars Bernard Tomic and Milos Raonic, saying they both have the game and the composure to make it to the top of the sport.
Tomic has been the local sensation of the Australian Open, fighting his way into a fourth round clash with Roger Federer on Sunday night, while Raonic, voted the ATP Tour Newcomer of the Year in 2011, bowed out in four sets to local wildcard Lleyton Hewitt on Saturday night.
While a first week exit looks a likely outcome for both the 19-year=old Australian and the 21-year-old Canadian, Nadal has big hopes for their futures.
The world No.2, who is through to the final eight here without dropping a set, said Tomic's mental approach and positioning are excellent and it's only a matter of time before he moves into the top ten players in the world.
"He understands the game and his position on court is fantastic," Nadal said.
"He's young and he's doing great mentally in my opinion. He stays very relaxed with a positive face, even when the match is tough for him."
"In the tough moments of the match, you see him, he is always calm and accepting things very well."
Nadal pin-points this attitude as key to Tomic's future success and says with a natural improvement in other aspects, then Grand Slam success in certainly within his reach.
"That is the right tactic to becoming a champion. He is one of the players who has a very good chance to be there," he said.
"In terms of his game he needs to improve things, but he's young, how old 19, 20? He's number 30 in the world and wins three very tough matches here against three very good players."
"The normal evolution is to see him in the top ten, maybe this year, but probably next year."
Nadal offered a similarly positive assessment of Raonic, who is coached by his compatriot and good friend Gala Blanco, but said that while the physical maturity is there in the Canadian's game, the mental strength is yet to come.
"He's doing great, but maybe he started to get more nervous that he should in a few moments like in a previous match against Petzchner, yesterday too he was a bit anxious," Nadal said in reference to Raonic's loss to Hewitt.
"But seriously with his serve, forehand and not bad movement, if you are just a little bit smart and try and keep improving your game, you have to be in the top positioning on the rankings."
"He is young. He has everything to be there. Only problem is injuries, because he has the rest to be there."
"I don’t have any doubt that he will be fighting for important tournaments very soon. If his mental part works well, I don't have any doubt he will be there."
Hewitt's victory over Roanic also struck a chord with the Spaniard, who said he had a great deal of admiration for the fighting spirit the former world No.1 showed to progress to the fourth round.
"I think he deserve all the respect of the people who love this sport and respect and admiration of everyone because after five or six surgeries, to keep having the motivation to ruin and to fight for every ball is fantastic," Nadal said.
"I wish him all the best for the rest of the season. I hope his problems will be fine as he's one of the most charismatic players on tour. I've always like him and his spirit of competition."