"Roger Federer knows what's going on" says Tim Henman ahead of Nadal potentially winning 21st grand slam

Rafael Nadal could potentially win his 21st grand slam trophy in Melbourne and Tim Henman knows that Federer is closely watching.

Nadal can move beyond rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic with a 21st singles Slam in Melbourne on Sunday, and will now face Daniil Medvedev. Despite all his major titles, the sixth seed has just the solitary title at the first Grand Slam of the season, back in 2009. He will now have every chance of claiming his second in Sunday's showpiece, and Henman says Federer is following his friend's progress.

On Federer, Henman said:

"It is inevitable that any tournament that doesn't have Roger Federer is going to miss him. He has always been extremely popular wherever he has played as one of the most successful male players of all time. We would love to see Federer back on court, but there is still a great group of male and female players out there."

Henman further added that Federer is well aware of what has been going on in tennis simply because he is a massive fan of the game:

"He has always been a massive tennis fan - that is why he got involved in the game. He loves tennis. I know because I have texted him a few times so he is definitely aware of what has been going on. Fingers crossed his rehabilitation is going well, and instead of him watching tennis, we can watch him back on the court."