It is hard to look beyond Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who are still dominating the tennis world despite their advanced age.

Federer, 36, recently won his 20th career Grand Slam at the Australian Open, while Nadal, 31,  finished last year as World No.1 and is still occupying the spot.

However, the pair will not play forever, sadly, and when they hang up the rackets one day, it is hard to name the players that will follow in their footsteps.

Tennis legend Rod Laver has a prediction, though.

He sees one young player who has what it takes to be at the top.

And the winner is...

Australian Nick Kyrgios.

The 22-year-old was knocked out of the round of 16 at the Australian Open by Grigor Dimitrov, World No.3 at the time, but showed some glimpses of magic throughout the tournament.

He dominantly beat Rogerio Dutra Da Silva and Viktor Troicki in Australia, before putting in an impressive performance to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the last 16.

"I think, you know, Nick Kyrgios could be the best player in the world," Laver told Fairfax Media.

"He has the markings of all of it.

"So many other people have said the same thing."

Kyrgios is currently No. 14 in the ranking, just a spot below his career highest in 2016. He also has a history of beating the greatest in current tennis era - Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic - at Grand Slams, which Laver finds amazing.

"What's he done? He's beaten Nadal, he's beaten Federer, darn near all of them, at their best."

The Australian is known for his temper and scandalous behaviour on the court, but Laver sees a positive change in Kyrgios and names him as the one to watch out for this season.

"I think his mental approach has changed – winning the Brisbane tournament," Laver stated.

"Nick, I think, is ready to get involved. Beating (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga in Melbourne here is a great start.

"I just believe that he's ready to sort of do something.”