Federer says 'struggling' Nadal still favourite to win French Open

The 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer believes that Rafael Nadal is still the favourite to win the French Open next month despite the Spaniard's recent struggles to regain form.

Nadal, the nine-time French Open winner, has shown a decline in form over the past weeks as he incurred a shock third round defeat to his Italian opponent Fabio Fognini at the Barcelona Open.

The Swiss maestro said that Nadal was still the favourite at the red clay of Roland Garros alongside Novak Djokovic who has been playing so well, Sport24 reported.

Federer further said that although Nadal's form was not as good as in previous years, the Spaniard would be very difficult to beat when the French Open rolls around.

Federer will now take his preparations for the French Open to the Istanbul Open, the first ATP World Tour event to be held in Turkey, from Wednesday.