Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal 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 Reuters

Rafael Nadal is poised to equal Roger Federer's Grand Slam haul by the end of 2016 and ultimately surpass the maestro's tally by 2017, according to veteran tennis analyst Andrew Prochnow of Bleacher Reports.

In his recent article on the sports site, Prochnow predicted that Nadal will win at least three more titles in the next two years simply because of his dominance at the French Open and his increasing confidence on hard-court Grand Slams at the US and Australian Open.

At 28-years old, Nadal is in his prime and is off to compete in numerous grand slams championships at least in the next three to five years. As for Federer, the tennis analyst believed the Swiss just blew his final shot at no.18 when he lost to Novak Djokovic in five sets at the Wimbledon Open championships.

"As for Federer, I personally believed prior to the 2014 season that he had one more title in him. However, I think Djokovic may have stolen that one away. While I continue to believe Federer will be a force on tour for the next couple of years, I don't see him lifting another major title in his career," Prochnow asserted in his article.

2014 US Open - Perfect Barometer for Nadal The upcoming battle in Flushing Meadows is seen as a perfect barometer to gauge Nadal's ability to stay competitive in Grand Slam hard court tournaments for more years. Last year, the Mallorcan Bull dominated the North American hard-court season by winning the Rogers Cup, Cincinnati Masters and the US Open championships.

He then followed up his hard-court success by reaching the finals of the Australian Open. Though his lackluster performance against eventual champion Stanislas Wawrinka raised some concerns on keeping his knees healthy while playing on this rugged court surface.

"The 2014 U.S. Open will obviously be a critical testing ground for Nadal's current comfort and future success on hard court," Prochnow stated.

Several tennis legends such Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras have already predicted that Nadal will eventually beat Federer as the king of Grand Slams. However, Federer has shown this year that he can still compete at the highest level. The proud Swiss is still expected to make the competition tougher for his rivals, but the focus now is not on him any longer. In the next three years, all eyes will be on Nadal and his own pursuit for greatness.

Also Read: Roger Federer Says He's Not Perfect, Talks About Retirement

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