Boris Becker has quibbled with Patrick Mouratoglou over the Frenchman’s picks for the greatest ever players at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Starting with SW19, Serena Williams’ former coach initially said Roger Federer was the undisputed No 1, before stopping himself short and adding Novak Djokovic to that category.
Federer has won Wimbledon a record eight times, and Djokovic is tied with Pete Sampras on seven in second for male tennis players. However, the Serb beat the Swiss in three finals at the grass court major, hence the honourable mention.
Conversely, the American won all seven of his Wimbledon finals and his win percentage of 90 edges Djokovic and Federer’s 88%.
Mouratoglou said in an Instagram video, “Federer [is the best Wimbledon men’s tennis player ever] without any… ah! There is a little battle between Federer and Djokovic but because of his style of game, Federer.”
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For the best current player at Wimbledon, Mouratoglou said Jannik Sinner is top dog and that he has been the “most dominant” competitor on grass for the past three years.
For the best female player ever at Wimbledon, the coach said it was between Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams. The former won this event on a record nine occasions, while Serena is joint third with Steffi Graf on seven.
“For the type of game and number of titles, Navratilova. For the fact that Serena played in a way stronger field, I would say Serena,” he added.
Mouratoglou said there is no best current grass court player as every year there is a different winner on Centre Court and the best players in the world “don’t perform at Wimbledon”.
For the US Open, Mouratoglou named Sampras as the best to ever do it at Flushing Meadows. The American won the title in New York five times, tied with Federer and Jimmy Connors, while Bill Tilden, William Larned, and Richard Sears hold the record for seven titles.
“He’s [Sampras] the youngest ever to have won the US Open and what is amazing is that he stopped his career by winning the US Open at 32 (31*),” he stated.
Mouratoglou picked Carlos Alcaraz as today’s best US Open player, named Serena as the best-ever on the women’s side to play the tournament, and plucked for two-time champion Aryna Sabalenka as the best current choice.
Molla Bjurstedt Mallory won the US Open a record eight times and Serena is tied in third on six crowns with Chris Evert.
The post led to a good amount of debate on social media, with six-time major winner Becker questioning his selections.
Djokovic’s former coach wrote, “Very surprised by his choices… most tennis experts would disagree with him!”
The German did not offer any alternative options, but chose to post this rather cutting remark. Either way, Mouratoglou’s opinion sparked a lot of debate.
Both have said Djokovic is the greatest men’s player of all time, with Federer potentially being in the top three. While that is not up for debate, the US Open and Wimbledon GOATs seemingly are.
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