Where will Demon's surge for the top bring the Australian?

Australia's top tennis player Alex De Minaur has been steadily climbing the rankings this season, and a top five appearance could be in the works should cards fall in his favor during the grass court season.

De Minaur reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros for the first time in his career this year. His sudden burst during the clay court season saw him rise to a career-high ranking of World No.9, and the Sydney native could close the gap on some players above him by the conclusion of the Wimbledon Championships.

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Favorable grass court season could boost the Aussie's ranking

The 25-year old is currently competing at the Libema Open s-Hertogenbosch, where he is the top seed. Subsequently, he should be the second seed at Queen's, before heading to Wimbledon. With his current ranking as World No.9 and Novak Djokovic in doubt for the All England Club, De Minaur has a chance at securing a top-eight seeding for the Grand Slam event. In addition, he lost in the second round at last year's edition, giving him very little points to defend.

Standing between De Minaur and a potential top five ranking is Andrey Rublev, who is currently ranked World No.6 with 4,710 ranking points. The Russian sits 865 points ahead of De Minaur, but will only play at the Halle Open prior to Wimbledon. Furthermore, Rublev finished runner-up at the last year's edition, meaning he has a lot of points to defend at this year's stacked event. In addition, he fell in the quarterfinals at last year's Wimbledon, meaning he will have to at least reach the final eight to avoid dropping any more points.

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With both knocking on the door to a top five appearance, the rankings favor De Minaur as he has only 345 points to defend until the end of Wimbledon. Conversely, Rublev has 660 points to defend, and a title run for De Minaur at the Libema Open could add even more points to the Australian's tally. This would play a huge role in him closing the gap on Rublev, with 'the Demon' getting one step closer to a career-high top five appearance.