Nadal has not won the Wimbledon title since 2010 and he is not competing at any grass ATP events in the build-up.
However, because of how successful the world No 2 was at the French Open – winning the tournament for a 12th time – Cilic believes his counterpart is the favourite heading into the British Grand Slam.
“Well, we are all in the draw to play to win,” Cilic said.
“Definitely they [Federer, Nadal, Djokovic] have the biggest chances because they have been winning the most in the last few years.
“Rafa now winning the French Open I feel he might be a great contender, compared even to Roger and Novak he might be, in my own feeling, he might be slightly ahead. We’ll see.”
Cilic dealt Nadal a blow when he beat him in an exhibition match at Hurlingham yesterday.
The Croatian’s preparations have been going well and he is hoping for a strong run himself at the All England Club.
“I’m feeling really well so who knows? When the things start to roll, a few matches here or there you can have guys like [Kevin] Anderson did last year, guys like [Milos] Raonic, me, then [Alexander] Zverev as well who are big servers who can go and make a lot of damage,” he added.
“The thing is as well they tend to get to the form up to the tournament.
“Normally they get in those first few matches, they find their hitting zone and everything so mentally they definitely are at a higher level when the tournament starts.
“So you know on grass it’s a bit tricky because if you’re not timing the ball well or miss a ball here and there it can go quickly the wrong way so it’s definitely tricky for everyone.
“When you’re playing guys who are serving well and hitting big, that’s always a danger.”
Controversy surrounded Nadal’s seeding at Wimbledon this week as he was dropped from second to third.
Federer was the beneficiary of a unique formula which takes into account achievements on grass over the last two years.
It means Nadal could have to beat both Federer and Djokovic to win the title.
