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Rafa
Nadal is “a beast” on the court who is capable of overtaking Roger
Federer as the all-time grand slam king, Pete Sampras said Thursday.

“If he’s smart with
his schedule and the fact that he has so many at such a young age, he
could very well do it,” Sampras told reporters on a conference call.

The 24-year-old
Spaniard claimed his ninth grand slam crown by winning the U.S. Open
earlier this month and became the seventh man to complete a career
grand slam in the process.

Federer holds the record for most major titles with 16, having eclipsed the previous mark of 14 set by Sampras.

“The only question
with Rafa is physically how much his body can handle the pounding with
how hard he works for every point. You just watch him play, the kid is
relentless,” said Sampras, promoting an exhibition against his old
rival Andre Agassi at Madison Square Garden in February.

“It’s a huge goal,
it’s a lot of majors, a lot of work.” When asked whether Nadal needed
to pad his resume to cement his place among the sport’s all-time greats,

Sampras said, “Quite honestly I don’t think he needs to.” “He’s won all the majors.

He’s won the
Olympics. He’s dominated his main rival, in Roger,” Sampras said,
referring to the Spaniard’s 14-7 head-to-head edge over the Swiss
master.

“I don’t think his goal is 16, or 17 or 18, he’s just going to try to improve as a tennis player and if it happens, great.

“He could do it,
it’s a lot of work ahead and he works so hard in every match he plays.
But he’s a beast.” That does not mean Sampras is dismissing the
29-year-old Federer’s chances of adding to his own total.

“He’s a strong
favourite for every major he plays. He had two match points against
(Novak) Djokovic,” Sampras noted about Federer’s five-set loss to the
Serbian in the U.S. Open semi-finals.

“He could very well
have been in the final. He’s playing fine; I don’t see any big decline.
Other guys are playing better. The next two or three years is a
challenging time.

“But Roger is up to the task and can win more majors.” Sampras would not be drawn into a debate about the best of all time.