"He's got such a big game, he's 23, he's getting better. His best tennis is obviously still to come"
Thursday 24 May 2018 14:18, UK
Kyle Edmund's "best is still to come" despite reaching his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, according to Great Britain's Davis Cup captain Leon Smith.
The 23-year-old was beaten in the last-four in Australia by Marin Cilic on Thursday, which marked the furthest Edmund has reached in a Grand Slam since the fourth round of the US Open in 2016.
Edmund's run to the semi-finals will see him move into the top 30 in the world rankings for the first time, but Smith sees further improvements on the horizon.
He said: "He's got such a big game, he's 23, he's getting better. His best tennis is obviously still to come.
"Everything's really worked for him this week. He'll keep improving now. I think the biggest thing is his mindset shift, he'll really think he's got a shot of beating the top guys now.
"You can't predict how far someone can go but what you do know is he's on an upward curve. He's pretty much halved his ranking from when he started the year already so now he can push on and make some great progress."
Edmund can be rightly pleased with what he achieved in the first Grand Slam of 2018, but Smith, who recently named him in his latest Davis Cup squad, warned the Yorkshireman not to rest on his laurels.
He said: "The most important thing is he's got to keep the process that he's been doing, not think too far ahead of where he might finish the year.
"It's not about that right now, it's understanding that what you're doing is working so push harder again."