'Beast' Kyle Edmund has power and mental strength to beat Grigor Dimitrov, says Thomas Johansson

Thomas Johansson, who knows what it takes to win the Australian Open, predicted a top-10 future for Kyle Edmund as the 23-year-old Briton prepared for his quarter-final meeting on Tuesday with Grigor Dimitrov.

Johansson, who won the title here in 2002, practised with Edmund on Monday morning, having been invited to hit with the world No49 by his coach, Fredrik Rosengren, a fellow Swede.

“I think Kyle has a big potential to get into the world’s top 10,” Johansson said. “What he’s done is very impressive. He’s taken a big step in the last couple of months.”

Edmund is through to his first Grand Slam quarter-final but faces a huge challenge against Dimitrov.

The 26-year-old Bulgarian, who recorded the biggest win of his career when he won the ATP Finals in London two months ago, had not been in his best form here until his battling victory last night over Nick Kyrgios, the local favourite.

“Grigor is playing really well at the moment,” Johansson said. “He has shown everybody that he is No3 in the world, that he plays really well when he needs to. It’s going to be a tough match for Kyle because Grigor is a master of breaking the rhythm. He is a little bit like Roger Federer in that sense, so Kyle has to be ready.”

Edmund, whose strapping 6ft 2in frame belies a natural shyness, lost a number of close encounters last year, but in his four matches here he has won twice after losing two of the first three sets and on Sunday came from a set down to beat Andreas Seppi.

Johansson is impressed by Edmund’s physical prowess — “He’s a beast and very, very strong” — but Rosengren has worked particularly hard on his mental strength.

“For me tennis is a mental game, so it’s all about belief at this level, that you have to manage the pressure and on certain points you have to step up and play well,” Rosengren said. “I heard this was not Kyle’s strength in the past, so we are talking a lot about this — to play to win, not to play to avoid losing, to have the heart.”

Johansson said: “What I like about Kyle now is that he shows a lot more emotions on the court.

“He’s much more positive and I think that has made a big difference.”

Edmund himself thinks his success has been down to a combination of factors. “It’s a lot of hard work, working smartly, working on your game — tactically, technically, whatever,” he said. “Sport in general — and tennis — is very mental: the more you play and the more you lose, and figuring out how to win, and when you win, you take confidence from that.”

Rosengren, aged 57, who works alongside coach Mark Hilton and Edmund’s trainer Ian Prangley, has coached a number of top players, including Robin Soderling, Mario Ancic, Magnus Norman and Jurgen Melzer.

“Pretty well all the players he’s coached have reached the top 10,” Johansson said. “For me he’s one of the best coaches in the world.

“He’s very tough. He’s been in this business for many, many years and has great knowledge.”

Johansson had first-hand experience of two of Edmund’s biggest weapons. “His forehand is massive,” the former world No7 said, having joked initially that he had only dared hit to the Briton’s backhand.

“He hits the ball fantastic. I think he’s also improved his serve a lot. He’s more accurate and he’s using his serve a lot better than he did before.”

Johansson said he had expected Dimitrov to make a big breakthrough last year. “I saw him on a daily basis in the [2016-17] off-season and I was so impressed with the work he put in, both on and off the court,” Johansson said.

“I knew he was going to have a good year, because he is so talented. Everybody was waiting for this year to happen. It was just a matter of time.”

Meanwhile Rafael Nadal, who will face Edmund or Dimitrov in the semi-finals if he beats Marin Cilic, has not been surprised by the Briton’s run to the quarter-finals.

“It was a little bit more surprising for me last year that he lost a lot of close matches,” the world No1 said.

“I really believe in his potential. He has a huge serve, huge forehand, and he hits the ball very hard. I really think he’s going to have a great year.”