Dubai: German legend Boris Becker sees no-one except Rafael Nadal as a worthy challenger to Roger Federer in men's tennis.
"Nadal came along in 2008 and challenged Federer. This only helped Federer to raise his level and play even better but now with Nadal out with an injury, I can see no-one capable of challenging possibly the greatest player of all times," Becker told Gulf News from Germany yesterday.
Becker will be one of the stars and legends of sport attending next week's Laureus Awards in Abu Dhabi.
"Federer has 16 Grand Slam titles at the moment and it was Nadal who has been consistently challenging him.
"All we need is a tough competitor who will come along and challenge Federer. But there is no-one at the moment, not even Murray," the German added.
"I've played some of the greats including Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg and Bjorn Borg a bit. I was at the Australian Open in January [Federer versus Murray] and I am yet to see a player of Federer's calibre," Becker stated.
"In a Grand Slam he [Federer] is a different player altogether. We need a player who can get close to him and beat him in a Grand Slam."
Famous as ‘Boom Boom' and ‘The Lion of Leimen', Becker has been a former World No 1 in men's tennis, winning six Grand Slams in singles and an Olympic Gold medal, while also becoming the youngest winner of the Wimbledon men's singles title at the age of 17. Tennis Magazine has put Becker in 18th place on its list of the 40 greatest tennis players from 1965 to 2005.
Incidentally, in Grand Slam singles tournaments, Becker's match record is 163-40, giving him an 80.3 winning percentage.
The only other male players in the Open era with winning percentages over 80 are Bjorn Borg (89.8), Federer (87.5), Nadal (85.7), Sampras (84.2), Jimmy Connors (82.6), Lendl (81.9), McEnroe (81.5) and Agassi (80.9).
