Federer said the rate of dropouts would fall if the slams switched to best-of-three-sets rather than best-of-five as it would mean matches were more like "a sprint to the finish line" rather than being "a marathon" but the people he really felt sorry for on Tuesday were the fans.
Top seed Nadal extended his winning streak to 13 matches with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of American Jared Donaldson in the Qi Zhong Stadium before World No 2 Federer, to the delight of his sizeable Chinese fan club, got the better of Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 7-6(4), 6-4.
Five things to watch out for on day five of the French Open on Thursday
Andy Murray rallied from a set and a break down against Gilles Simon to advance to his first semi-final since he won last year's Wimbledon title while top seed David Ferrer retired with a thigh strain at the Acapulco International on Thursday.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-0, 7-5 on Monday to power into the last 16 of the Miami Open.
Nadal will next face Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov.
India's Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea entered the Sydney International final after a straight sets win over Thomaz Bellucci and Leonardo Mayer, on Friday.
Roger Federer and Andy Murray advanced to the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open in contrasting fashion on Friday to set up a rematch of their Wimbledon clash.
World number one Novak Djokovic survived a second set fightback from Slovak Martin Klizan before winning his opening match at the Miami Open 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.
Roger Federer is in love with tennis even after nearly two decades but may not be that keen to follow his children if they ever turned professional, the Swiss maestro said after storming into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Images from Day 3 of the 2016 Australian Open in Melbourne, on Wednesday
One of sport's great rivalries, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have clashed 37 times over the years but never stood across from each other on Flushing Meadows' hardcourts.
French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka was scythed back to earth by big-serving South African Kevin Anderson on the Queen's Club grass as the Swiss bowed out of the Aegon Championships 7-6(4), 7-6(11) on Wednesday.
"There is nothing very negative. I won a tournament last week. This week I lost an opportunity, but, my feeling, my thoughts are no different today than yesterday.
India saw a day of mixed fortunes at the Australian Open on Saturday as both, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna won their respective doubles and mixed doubles matches to enter the third round of the opening Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne.
Former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic suffered a shock 6-7(4), 1-6 loss against Denisa Allertova of Czech Republic in the women's singles first round at the 2016 US Open on Tuesday. Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open winner, started off well but failed to maintain her momentum. With the scored tied 6-6, the first set went into tie-break and the Serbian star failed to keep her nerves.
Federer begins the pursuit of a record eighth Wimbledon title and a record 85th match win at the grass court major; Djokovic hoping to curb dismal slide
Juan Martin del Potro continued his encouraging buildup to the Australian Open by reaching the semi-finals of the Sydney International on Thursday, but women's contender Petra Kvitova was stunned by a Bulgarian qualifier in the last four.
Vishnu Vardhan won his second Challenger level title of the season with Japanese partner Toshihide Matsui but four other Indians, including Leander Paes, tumbled out of various ATP events across the globe.
All the results from the matches played in the BNP Paribas Paris Masters on Tuesday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Defending champion Novak Djokovic's preparations for Wimbledon have been laid back in the extreme.
Naomi Osaka eased into the second round of the Italian Open on Monday with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over former world number one Victoria Azarenka, on a day in which local favourite Roberta Vinci called time on her career.
Photos from Day 1 of the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Monday
Defending champion Serena Williams is the top seed in the women's draw. The American will be looking to equal Steffi Graf's Open era record by sealing a 22nd Grand Slam triumph.
Wozniacki battles past Kerber into Eastbourne final
Serena Williams brushed off some serving troubles before cruising to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Elina Svitolina on Saturday and will meet Simona Halep in the Western & Southern Open final.
Czech defending champion Katerina Siniakova fended off Maria Sharapova in a fiercely contested match at the Shenzhen Open on Friday to set up a final with world number one Simona Halep.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Images from Day 5 of the French Open in Paris on Thursday.
Images from Day 3 of the French Open matches played at Roland Garros in Paris on Tuesday
Nick Kyrgios clinched his maiden tour title on home soil in a big confidence boost ahead of the Australian Open, beating Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-2 in the Brisbane International final.
World number one Simona Halep swatted aside American Nicole Gibbs while Maria Sharapova was flawless in her straight sets victory over Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu in the opening round of the Shenzhen Open on Monday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Nadal, who got a first-round bye, defeated Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4 to advance.
Photos from Day 5 action at the Western & Southern Open at Cincinnati on Thursday.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the US Open in New York on Wednesday.
PHOTOS from day four of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Thursday.
Photos from the US Open matches played on Monday
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