Wimbledon 2018: Rafael Nadal Prefers Not To Face Roger Federer In Final

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is realistic about who he wants to face should he reach the Wimbledon final this year.

Nadal reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time since 2011 after defeating Jiri Vesely in a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory on Monday.

It means Nadal is now in his 35th Grand Slam quarterfinal and following previous years of injuries and bad luck at SW19, the Spaniard was pleased to reach the last eight.

"Of course this is an important result for me," Nadal said after the match. "Of course, it’s important for me to be in these quarter-finals. It is true that it has been a while since I have been in that position. ... At the same time I have been in that position a couple of times in my career. We are not talking about already that I played a final or I won the tournament. We are talking about me being in the quarter-finals. That, of course, is a positive result."

Roger Federer, meanwhile, comfortably defeated Adrian Mannarino in a 6-0, 7-5, 6-4 victory to reach the quarterfinal stage.

The reigning champion's straight-set win means he has now won his last 32 consecutive sets on the surface and is three set wins away from breaking his previous record of 34, which he accomplished between 2005 and 2006.

As it stands, it looks like it very well could be a repeat of the classic 2008 Wimbledon final where Nadal and Federer face each other in the final and rekindle memories of what is arguably the greatest tennis match of all time.

While Nadal, who has lost his last five encounters against Federer with four of them coming in 2017, would be excited about a meeting with the Swiss legend, he also would prefer to face anyone else to better his chances of a third Wimbledon title.

"I am not saying I am not excited to play against Roger in the final," Nadal explained. "I am excited. It will be a good result for me. Facing Roger again will be something fantastic. If you ask me if I prefer another one, I say yes. That’s the point. It’s about being smart, no?"

"The overall goal is try to win the tournament. Depends against who you play you have less or more chances to win. That’s the thing. I can be here, I can’t come here and say, 'no, of course I want to play against the best players.'"

Nadal exited in the fourth round last year to Gilles Muller, but having made the quarterfinals this year, the 32-year-old extended his lead over Federer in the ATP rankings by 180 points.

As it stands, the 17-time Grand Slam champion is currently on 8,950 points while Federer, who has to win a ninth Wimbledon title to retain the full 2,000 points, is currently on 8,720.

Nadal faces the winner of Juan Martin del Potro and Gilles Simon while Federer takes on US Open finalist Kevin Anderson in the quarterfinals.