Roger Federer is hoping to win more Grand Slam titles next year but admits it’s likely Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will eclipse his record.
Federer currently holds the male record for the most Grand Slam tournament victories, having won 20 titles during his long and illustrious career.
That honour, however, is under major threat from Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, with the pair having won 19 and 16 Grand Slam tournaments respectively.
Federer is optimistic about his chances of winning at least one more Grand Slam next year but admits father time is against him.
The 38-year-old said: “Obviously I would like to keep all my records but it’s not realistic.
“The world of tennis and media asks me about it more and more. There is always a record to beat and to go through. I hope to stay in course for Grand Slams in 2020.
“But being able to play at this level at my age is so nice. And I would like to look at this era like three players who played in amazing way during the same time.”
The era of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic is considered by many to be the greatest in the history of the sport.
Federer himself agrees with that notion and believes they’d be able to compete with the great champions of the past, even if they used wooden rackets.
He said: “For me the greatest champions would have been able to fit to any era. Take Rafa, many people think that he would struggle with wooden rackets. I do not agree.
“Without any doubt he would have hit more flat. It’s the same thing for Rod Laver who hit flat because it was the gamestyle of his time.
“With our rackets, ‘Rocket’ would have been doing well. The best hands and eyes fit to everything, they learn, evolve and find way to use their talent.
“We already spoke about it with Borg and McEnroe who experienced the transiction to professionalism.
“It’s very interesting. They tell so many unbelievable things. Tennis evolved a lot. When you look at Nadal, [Dominic] Thiem or [Stefanos] Tsitsipas in training, they all hit balls with a crazy intensity and they go down by one or two levels in a match.
“But in the past it was the contrary: we used to train harder in matches. It’s nice to speak about those developments between us.”
Federer’s next opportunity to win his 21st Grand Slam will come in January 2020 in the Australia Open in Melbourne.
