Novak Djokovic believes Australian Open semifinal opponent Lucas Pouille has all the qualities to become a top-10 player.
Pouille has impressed in Melbourne, upsetting the odds to defeat Dominic Thiem, Borna Coric and Milos Raonic en route to the last four.
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The 28th seed – who had not previously made it beyond the opening round at the first grand slam of the year – now faces his toughest test in the shape of Djokovic, a man he has never come up against before and who has been watching the Frenchman's progress with interest.
"I always thought he's a great-quality player," said the world number one of his next opponent, who is ranked 31. "I mean, what he has done this tournament is fantastic. He has won against some top players. Of course Milos, Coric in the last round.
"He struggled a little bit with consistency of his results in the last two years, but with the quality of the tennis that he possesses, he deserves to be definitely at the top 15, maybe top 10 in the world.
"He's got that quality and potential, no question about it.
"It's funny that we're going to play first time against each other. We've practiced many times.
"We've known each other obviously for a long time. Here we go. We'll see. It's the semi-finals. We both, I'm sure, want to get to the finals.
"Hopefully we can both be fresh and fit and put on the great show."
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