Greg Rusedski feels rise of young players will make Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's comebacks more difficult

Former World No. 4 Greg Rusedski believes Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will have a tough time when they return to the tour due to the rise of young players like Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev.

Nadal and Federer both missed major portions of the 2021 season due to injury. The Spaniard is scheduled to return to action at a pre-season exhibition event in Abu Dhabi later this month.

Federer, on the other hand, faces a much longer spell on the sidelines. The Swiss, who underwent a third knee surgery this year, recently revealed that he might find it difficult to regain full fitness in time for Wimbledon next year.

Nadal and Federer have returned from serious injuries in the past, but Rusedski feels the rise of the Next Gen will make it a little more difficult for the 20-time Major champions this time around.

"You’re talking about the younger generation, they’re here now," Rusedski told the Daily Express. "I mean, out of the big three it’s really the big one left which is Novak who doesn’t seem to be going anywhere quite yet."

"It’s harder for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal now because Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, those guys are starting to believe. They’ve come very, very close," he said.

Rusedski said the fact that Nadal and Federer did not feature in a single Major final this year was an indication of the changing of the guard.

"Medvedev finally beat Djokovic in a Grand Slam final, Tsitsipas was two-sets-to-love up in the finals of the French when Novak came to win in five sets, and Berrettini was in the other final (Wimbledon) so we had no Federer, no Nadal, only Djokovic out of the Big Three in the finals of a Major this year which is very unusual and unheard of in the last decade," Rusedski said.

For 21st Slam, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be focusing on Wimbledon and Roland Garros respectively: Greg Rusedski

Rafael Nadal (L) and Roger Federer

During the interview, Rusedski claimed Roger Federer's best shot at winning a 21st Grand Slam title would be at Wimbledon. The Brit highlighted the fact that Federer came close to winning the event in 2019, and reached the quarterfinals this year despite being compromised physically.

"Wimbledon as we saw in ’19 he (Roger Federer) had a few match points against Novak," he said. "This year he didn’t play particularly well at Wimbledon and still made the quarter-finals so if he’s healthy, I think that’s where he believes he still has a shot to win and he wants to win the best titles, he just doesn’t want to make the numbers up so for Roger that’s probably the goal."

Rusedski also pointed out that with Novak Djokovic dominating hardcourts, the French Open would be the main focus for Nadal.

"For Rafa it’s the French Open. That’s where he thinks he can get number 21 because Djokovic is really the supreme player on hard courts," Rusedski asserted.