Federer not great yet - Newcombe

Federer has been beaten six times by Nadal

Roger Federer cannot yet be considered an all-time tennis great, according to former world number one John Newcombe.

Federer took a fourth Wimbledon crown on Sunday with a four-set victory over Rafael Nadal, his clay-court conqueror at Roland Garros in June.

It was only the second time in eight matches Federer, 24, had beaten Nadal.

"To be in the top three or four of all time you have to dominate completely in your era," said Newcombe, who won seven Grand Slam titles.

Federer has won two US Opens, two Australian Opens and four Wimbledons, and was runner-up at this year's French Open.

Newcombe, who played during the 1960s and 70s, matched Federer's US and Australian hauls but won one fewer Wimbledon crown and never progressed beyond the quarter-finals on Parisian clay.

Newcombe added: "There's no question that Federer should be talked about but there is a question mark there now because he's losing six matches to two to Nadal.

"You can't put him up there because he has not been able to win the French Open and Nadal has not only been beating him on clay, he's beaten him and matched him on hard court.

"So if you're going to put Federer there, you've got to put Nadal there.

"But Roger Federer's career is only halfway through. He's got another four or five years. Let's see what happens by the end of his career."

Newcombe also queried whether Pete Sampras, winner of a record 14 Grand Slam titles including seven Wimbledon crowns, could be considered an all-time great.

"Pete Sampras cannot go down in that category because the best he ever did at the French Open in 11 tries was one semi-final," said Newcombe.

"So there's no way he can be categorised as one of the best three or four of all time."

Only five men have won all four Grand Slam tournaments at least once - Don Budge and Fred Perry in the 1930s, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson in the 1960s and Andre Agassi in the 1990s.