Federer plays down talk of rivalry with Nadal
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-11 14:16

INDIAN WELLS, March 10 (Reuters) - World number one Roger Federer said it was too early to tell whether he and Rafael Nadal will establish a major rivalry.

Spanish teenager Nadal broke Federer's 56-match hard court winning streak with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory in Dubai last Sunday and boasts a 3-1 record against the Swiss

But Federer said the competition was too fierce to develop a rivalry in the fashion of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.

"I've played him only four times and obviously we are number one and number two, but we'll have to see how it progresses," said Federer, the top seed at this week's Pacific Life Open.

"There are more players than just Nadal. The other players will play well here too at Indian Wells.

"I don't think we can call it a rivalry yet. There's just to many great players around."

But eight-times grand slam champion Agassi think the pairing has the makings of a classic and said that the left-handed Nadal, who is seeded second at Indian Wells, has the game to challenge Federer.

"I think it would be impossible for anybody to dominate in the past two years the way Roger did," Agassi said.

"It's great to see that the one person that closes to him in the rankings is his most difficult matchup. Nadal can hit that one shot that everybody wishes they can hit against Roger and that's getting the ball up to his backhand side.

"It's isn't brain surgery. Nobody likes it up there. That's the only area that Roger doesn't hurt you with. So it's great to see a matchup that lends for a rivalry for a long time to come."

Swiss Federer believes the more he plays the Spaniard, the more success he'll have against him.

"He's a big guy," Federer said. "He moves very well for his height and he's got strong legs. He gets back many balls and he's got a great forehand, great spin.

"He reads the dimension of the court very well. He's got a good all round game. We don't have to many of those, but I enjoy playing him. I'm at the top of my game so, when I win or lose, I don't freak out."