Nadal hopes to stop Federer from getting his sixth Wimbledon title

Spains Rafael Nadal reckons that Swiss Roger Federer is the greatest player of all time, but has simultaneously warned his Wimbledon rival that he will have to wait a little longer to make history.

London, July 5 : Spain's Rafael Nadal reckons that Swiss Roger Federer is the greatest player of all time, but has simultaneously warned his Wimbledon rival that he will have to wait a little longer to make history.

The Majorca mauler seeking to project himself as the underdog ahead of Sunday's final against Federer, was quoted by The Sun as saying: "For me, Roger is the best in history because he already has six Wimbledon titles."

But then he quickly corrected his mistake and said: "No, no, only five! Hopefully, not six this year."

Yet he reckons it is only a matter of time before Federer surpasses Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon titles and admits he has no idea what is needed to beat the World No 1 on grass.

He said: "All I can do is try my best against him, like I did in the last two finals here. Later, if he plays better than me and beats me, I'll just congratulate him like every year!

"To win at Wimbledon will be one of the greatest victories of my career. But even if I have that title, I'm still going to be No 2 in the rankings on Monday."

Nadal, who won his first grass title at last month's Artois Championships at Queen's, has beaten Federer in 11 of their previous 17 meetings.

"I don't have to prove I can play on grass to anyone because this will be my third final in a row here at Wimbledon. I know I have to play very, very well to beat him because the best player in the world will be on the other side of the net. He is playing very well. But so am I - and he knows that," said Nadal.

ANI