Roger Federer's future is being questioned by tennis experts after parting ways with his former coach, but sports greats Rod Laver and Pete Sampras believe that the Swiss star has a lot of gas left on his tank.
In an interview with Tennis Now, Laver said that he is aware of the current issues surrounding the tennis superstar, but he reiterated that Federer will win his 18th major title, while also labeling the former world No.1 as the greatest tennis player of all time.
"I think he's certainly capable of winning maybe the Australian, and of course Wimbledon is something that he's pretty involved with. I think he likes those two types of games," Laver said. "When I look at Federer, with what he's accomplished, against the competition that he's accomplished it with, I'd have to say I would think that Roger is the greatest player, just because his record, the consistency over a span of six, eight years has been pretty amazing. I think that sort of tells you."
The statement of Laver, who is known in the tennis world as the "Rocket", echoed the same statement of another tennis great -- Sampras, who also said that Federer is due for another major title.
"I do believe he can," Sampras said in an interview with Tennis Space when asked if Federer is capable pushing his major titles total to 18. "People wrote me off. But what the great players have is belief, and once Roger has that belief back, and starts playing well again, I think he can win another major. He will at least contend. Maybe he won't be the big favorite that he was around in 2005. I think that if he is playing well, and stays healthy, he is capable of winning another major."
Federer parted ways with Paul Annacone, who has been his coach in the past three and a half years, after experiencing another humbling setback. The 32-year-old Swiss suffered a third-round exit in the Shanghai Masters after losing to Gael Monfils, who just recently recovered from an injury.
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