Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal (L) of Spain and Roger Federer of Switzerland hug at the net, after Nadal won their men's singles semi-final match at the Australian Open 2014 tennis tournament in Melbourne January 24, 2014. REUTERS/Bobby Yip REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Rafael Nadal recently shared his thoughts on Roger Federer’s chances of winning a grand slam title again. According to the Spanish tennis star, he is unsure if Federer will succeed, but if the Swiss tennis great makes it in the final of a big tournament, Nadal said that the 17-time grand slam tennis champion has a better chance of hauling another grand slam title to add in his long list of tennis accolades.

Speaking to Baz Online ahead of his first-round match at the Swiss Indoors Basel, Nadal said he is not surprised that Federer is still playing amazing tennis at 34 years old, when most tennis players had already retired from the sport. While it is a legendary feat not only for Federer to win 17 grand slam titles, the Swiss continues to play high-calibre tennis in his quest for an elusive 18th grand slam trophy, and Nadal admitted that it is great for the sporting world of tennis.

Asked if Nadal thinks Federer can win another grand slam title, Nadal said he has no idea when Federer can win another big tournament, but he reportedly knows that the Swiss has every chance of an 18th grand slam title as long as Federer is able to play at a great level.

“He (Federer) can do it (win a grand slam), sure,” Nadal said. “I do not say that Roger deserves it, but tennis is a fair sport.

Nadal pointed out that Federer comes close to winning another grand slam title if the Swiss reaches either the semifinals or the finals of a big tournament. Since Federer won his 17th grand slam title at the Wimbledon Championships in 2012, the Swiss had six semifinal appearances with two runner-up finishes at the Wimbledon Championships (2014 and 2015) and U.S. Open (2015). As long as Federer continues to play at his level, he can win another grand slam title, which could be fantastic for tennis, according to the Mallorca native.

Both Nadal and Federer are currently taking part at the ATP World Tour Masters 500 event in Federer’s hometown, Basel. Nadal survived an opening round scare and beat Lukas Rosol 1-6 7-5 7-6(4) to book a place in the second round where he will play Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3 6-4. Nadal has a 6-0 head-to-head advantage against Dimitrov.

Meanwhile, Federer is looking to win a seventh title at his hometown tournament. He also advanced in the next round after an easy straight-sets win over Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1 6-2 on Tuesday.

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