Nikolay Davydenko feels Roger Federer will retire before Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

What's the story?

Former World No.3, Nikolay Davydenko, was asked who he thought would be the first to retire between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic in a recent interview.

The Russian replied that he thought Federer would be the first to call time on his career as he is almost 40 years old, compared to Djokovic and Nadal who are still in their early 30s.

In case you didn't know

Federer has been at the pinnacle of tennis for over 16 years. This began in 2003 when the Swiss maestro won the first of 20 Grand Slam singles titles by defeating Australian Mark Philippoussis, in straight sets.

The heart of the matter

Davydenko was quoted as saying that he believed Federer would be the first of the Big 3 to retire from tennis. He said,

"He (Federer) will be 39 years old next year and I think he wants to play the Olympic Games for the last time."

Many fans and pundits have suggested that Federer will retire after the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. However, Federer himself has claimed that he has no plans to retire just yet and as long as his family are happy with his tennis schedule he will continue for at least a few more years.

Davydenko suggested that Federer's decision to elongate his career will undoubtedly be based on his results. The Russian also speculated that Federer may wish to keep playing to break some more records, which he is so famed for doing.

"I do not know if he wants to reach 40 years and beat some records... It will depend on his results. If it's easy for him to reach quarter-finals, semis, finals, he will stay in the top ten rankings which is good. Not the number one, but the top 5, 7, 10."

Federer has been consistently contending for the biggest prizes in tennis, despite being in his late 30s. He was painfully close to winning Wimbledon this year and there is no reason that he couldn't win a slam next year.

The Swiss legend continues to push the boundaries as to what a tennis player should be capable of doing, so he has every reason to believe he can still win one of tennis's biggest titles. The odds may be starting to stack against him, but after all, he is one of the greatest of all time for a reason.