Rafael Nadal Is 'A Nightmare', Roger Federer Has Chance For World No. 1 Says Former Australian Pro Pat Cash

Former Wimbledon tennis champion Australia's Pat Cash (3rd L) poses with five lookalikes of Russia's Anna Kournikova on the first day ofthe Wimbledon tennis championships in London, June 24, 2002. Reuters

Rafael Nadal is a nightmare match-up on clay while Roger Federer has a chance to steal the world no. 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic according to former tennis pro Pat Cash.

The 49-year-old Cash, who was born in Melbourne, Australia but now resides in London, United Kingdom, now works as a tennis commentator, was in a Twitter Q-and-A with fans on Tuesday and answered a few select questions including his opinion of Nadal and Federer, two of the top players in the world today.

“I think my biggest nightmare would be to play [Rafael] Nadal on clay; clay was my worst surface and his best surface. That for me would be my biggest nightmare,” Cash said when asked which among the top players today would he fear the most if he were playing with this generation.

“The way he’s playing, and I’ve said this for a while, if Roger Federer stays fit, anything’s possible. There are very few men players who have not won a grand slam but become no. 1. I think Marcelo Rios is one… Scratching my head to think of another one who became no. 1 without winning a grand slam that year,” Cash opined in the said Q-and-A fan interaction on social media.

“It just goes to show how well he’s done in the other events. Indoors he is one of, if not, the best indoor players I’ve ever seen in my life, he’s just incredible. So there’s an absolute chance he can become No1. It’ll be exciting.”

Currently, Djokovic of Serbia has 11,510 points to Federer’s (Switzerland) 9,080 points. For Federer to catch up by end of the 2014 season, Djokovic must flop in multiple tournaments or miss them entirely while Federer should continue topping tourneys like he did at the recent 2014 Shanghai Masters in Shanghai, China.

Current Top 5 - ATP Rankings Men’s Singles

1. Novak Djokovic (Serbia) - 11,510

2. Roger Federer (Switzerland) - 9,080

3. Rafael Nadal (Spain) - 8,105

4. Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) 5,385

5. David Ferrer (Spain) - 4,585

Cash could be referring to the ATP Race to London rankings, although this is widely seen as less important between the two rankings as history books only see the actual rolling 52-week ATP rankings.

Pat Cash had a record of 243 wins against 148 losses during his 15-year tennis career from 1982 to 1997. He won seven minor titles and one Grand Slam, the 1987 Wimbledon Championshps He reached the finals of the Australian Open twice (1987 and 1988) but fell both times. Cash’s highest ranking in the ATP tour was world no. 4 in 1988.

Watch the interview of Pat Cash below with comments Rafael Nadal among other things: