Nadal calls Federer 'one of top candidates' to win Australian Open

French Open Champion Rafael Nadal has said that Swiss tennis player Roger Federer does not need to be World No.1 any more and he still might well be a top contender at next year's Australian Open.

According to The Scotsman, Federer's decline has been well documented since 2011, the year he failed to win a grand slam for the first time since 2003.

He suffered yet another below par performance this season, at best reaching the last four at the Australian Open, the first time he has not made it to a major final since 2002, the report said.

The Swiss, however, has a record 17 grand slam titles to his name and has spent 302 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings, the report added.

Nadal said that he did not have any doubt that Federer would be playing better than what he did this year, adding that the Swiss ace's talent allows him to keep being one of the favourites and to keep winning the best tournaments of the year.

The Spaniard added that the No.1 ranking would not be Federer's goal because he has already been there for a long time, adding that he would be one of the candidates to win the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open.

Nadal further said that he was sure that Federer had not finished, adding that he would work hard in the off-season to be ready for 2014 and would be back playing great tennis again.