Becker: Fed would do better than Nadal and Djoko in the late 1980-90s era!
For all the talk of the current “Golden Era” of tennis, Boris Becker says there’s only one Golden Boy who could have competed alongside his generation of greats: Roger Federer.
“I don’t think [Rafael] Nadal or [Novak] Djokovic would have been so successful in the era of serve and volley, but Federer could have played,” Becker said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi over the weekend.
He added that Federer’s variety puts him ahead of Nadal and Djokovic.
“The reason why Federer is still successful at the age of 31 is because he has got a good technique,” Becker said. “He can play from the baseline and when he has to, he can also come to the net more often than other players.”
As for whether Federer is the best player of all time, Boris was more inclined to hedge.
“It is the ultimate question, but unfortunately it has no answer,” Becker said. “Roger Federer has won more tournaments than anybody, but it remains unknown if he would have beaten a McEnroe, a Borg, a Laver or me.”
http://tennis.si.com/2012/11/19/boris-becker-only-federer-could-han...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mark / The Mayor on
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I can agree with that. But I find it interesting that Boom Boom mentions Mac as one of the best ever.
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Permalink Reply by Tim Prapong on
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Interesting matchup right there. 1984 Mac vs. 2005 Fed. What would've been the result? Mac's slice serve to Fed's backhand.
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Permalink Reply by Mark T. on
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I think Nadal could have handled playing against those guys. What I think is absolutely hilarious is that Boom Boom includes himself in the discussion with the all time greats. Wake up Becker, you are not in that league.
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Well, he has six Slams. He's still above Djokovic in slam counts. He's in the Becker/Edberg/Djokovic pool. lol
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Depends on how generous one's cutoff line is. Is the cutoff line 7 slams, where Mac is? Then you leave off alot of guys. I won't bother to name them all, but I do think Becker vs. Nadal would be a very interesting match. I'd say Nadal would have 35% chance to beat Becker on fast indoor or grass. And Becker would have 10-15% chance to beat Nadal on clay.
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Open Era Titles # 1. 
Roger Federer17 2. 
Pete Sampras14 3. 
Björn Borg11 
Rafael Nadal11 5. Jimmy Connors8 
Ivan Lendl Andre Agassi8. John McEnroe7 Mats Wilander10. Stefan Edberg6 
Boris Becker
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Titles per court type
Hard # 1. Roger Federer52 2. Jimmy Connors48 3. Andre Agassi46 4. Pete Sampras36 5. / Ivan Lendl31 6. 
Novak Djokovic26 7. Stefan Edberg23 8. John McEnroe22 9. Michael Chang21 Andy RoddickClay # 1. 
Guillermo Vilas45 2. 
Thomas Muster40 3. Rafael Nadal36 4. Manuel Orantes30 Björn Borg6. 
Ilie Năstase28 / Ivan Lendl8. José Luis Clerc21 9. Mats Wilander20 10. 
Andrés Gómez16 Carlos MoyáGrass # 1. Roger Federer12 2. Jimmy Connors10 Pete Sampras4. John McEnroe8 5. Boris Becker7 
Lleyton Hewitt7 7. Björn Borg6 
Vijay Amritraj9. Rod Laver5 John Newcombe Ken Rosewall
Johan Kriek Stefan Edberg
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Greg Rusedski Andy RoddickCarpet # 1. John McEnroe43 2. Jimmy Connors39 3. / Ivan Lendl33 4. Boris Becker26 5. Björn Borg22 6. Arthur Ashe18 7. Rod Laver15 Pete Sampras9. 
Goran Ivanišević14 10. Stan Smith11 Stefan Edberg
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
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