Former world's No. 1 Roger Federer talked about his relationship with Rafael Nadal, and his mindset heading into the Indian Wells Open during an interview right after winning the Dubai Duty Free Championship last Saturday.

Federer, who is fresh from bagging his first crown of the year after beating Tomas Berdych in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Dubai, was given a chance to talk with the media and shared his feelings about his latest success on the court.

The Swiss Maestro seemed to be feeling upbeat as he spoke about his huge victory against Serbian top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the Dubai Open.

After strings of losses against Djokovic, Federer finally came up with sensational performance to beat his rival in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. It marked the first time since the 2012 Cincinnati Masters Federer ended up as the winner against Djokovic.

"It's all happening. Beating Novak on the hard courts here in Dubai is tough. Clearly it's not best of five, clearly not the finals of some whatever tournament, but this is a big step in the right direction. It gives me a lot of confidence. Physically, I'm doing well. We'll have to see how I handle travelling all the way to Indian Wells," Federer told Tennis Earth on Monday.

Federer is heading into the Indian Wells Open and Miami Masters with his confidence riding high, despite facing a plethora of top-tier netters such as Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Stanislas Wawrinka and long-time rival Rafael Nadal.

Despite numerous intense matches throughout their careers, Federer said he and Nadal are on good terms as professional tennis players, even if they are not the best of friends.

"We're almost too nice to each other sometimes, I don't want to say today's players are too soft, but it's good when players go after each other a bit. I'm not sure how close we are as friends. I'll be interested how much we'll stay in touch once everything is said and done and we're off the circuit. We're not going to dinner, if you know what I mean. I don't know how it was in Connors's era," Federer said.