Boris Becker reveals the one player he would have dreaded facing in a Grand Slam final

Boris Becker has revealed who his dream opponent would be and where he would pick to play the match.

The six-time Grand Slam-winning legend was in a reflective mood as he looked back on his career, as he looked back on the different eras of tennis and picked out his dream opponent.

Becker was at the peak of his powers in the second half of the 1980s, but he pondered whether he would have relished a match-up with current icons Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

“When I imagine the perfect match for me, it is always the final of Wimbledon,” said Eurosport expert Becker.

“Then you ask, who do I want to play? Is it Novak, it is Roger?

“I wouldn’t have wanted to play a final against Rafa because everybody loses, so it’s not good.

“As a former No 1, you want to play against the best players in the world in a final, so you can pick any of them.

“When I look back now at the 17-year-old Boris Becker and see the man I am now, I have a few thoughts.

“I had a great time when I was 17 and 18 winning Wimbledon and had a long and pretty successful career after that.

“To enjoy it more? I don’t know what could have been different, but I would say I have a pretty good head right now after all the ups and downs I went through in my life.

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“So I would probably want to have my 17-year-old body and my head of today. That would be a very, very dangerous combination, I tell you that!”

Becker also spoke about his great rival Ivan Lendl, who he described as his ‘toughest rival’ as they battled it out for the world No 1 spot.

“When I was coming up, Ivan was No 1 and I was No 2 in the rankings,” added Becker.

“He was my toughest rival, for sure. I played a lot of finals against him and they were always big battles.

“Ivan Lendl changed tennis in many was as he was the first player to have a diet. He had his own stringer and he was the first one to have that.

“He was the first one to look outside tennis from all angles and that is one of the reasons why he won so much in his life.

“Today’s players, the physical aspect of it, the food they eat, the psychologists they work with, Ivan Lendl was the first guy to start all this.”

Becker has a special memory of one of Lendl’s most famous wins, as he roared back from two sets down to beat John McEnroe in an epic 1984 French Open final.

“My first memory of Ivan was when he played John McEnroe in the French Open final and I was playing in the Boys’ Doubles Final against Patrick McEnroe, John’s brother,” he added.

“John was two sets to love up and it looks like he was going to win easily. I remember Patrick and I were following the score while we played in our own final.

“It was very memorable for me because we were right next door to the men’s final and we could hear the crowd cheering.

“Ivan came back from two sets down to be John in the men’s final and I won my junior doubles final so it wasn’t a good day for the McEnroe family.”

Comparing the greats from different eras is always challenging, but Becker’s brand of power-packed tennis would have been successful against any generation of champion.