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    Simon Reed

    Who’s the GOAT? 8-Wilander v 9-Becker

    Last week's Greatest Of All Time match-up might have been a bit of a one-sided tie - we were actually slightly surprised that Jim Courier polled as well as he did - but this week's match has all the makings of a classic: Swedish great Mats Wilander against Germany's Boris Becker.

    Under our GOAT rules each match is three sets, one on each surface. Here's the rundown on the two contenders.

    Mats Wilander

    Nationality: Swedish

    Seeded: 8

    Grand Slam titles: Seven

    Australian Open: Winner (1983, 1984, 1988)

    French Open: Winner (1982, 1985, 1988)

    Wimbledon: Quarter-finalist (1987, 1988, 1989)

    US Open: Winner (1988)

    Boris Becker

    Nationality: German

    Seeded: 9

    Grand Slam titles: Six

    Australian Open: Winner (1991, 1996)

    French Open: Semi-finalist (1987, 1989, 1991)

    Wimbledon: Winner (1985, 1986, 1989)

    US Open: Winner (1989)

    Real-life head-to-head stats: Becker won 7-3 (Becker won five on carpet, two on hard court; Wilander two on clay, one on hard court). Wilander won all three of their Grand Slam meetings, while Becker made a clean sweep outside the Slams.

    Who would win if both players were playing at their absolute best? (One set hard court, one set clay, one set grass)

    Simon Reed's verdict:

    I've got to be careful what I say on this one, because Mats is a personal friend of mine and I work with Boris at Wimbledon every year!

    But I'm not hedging my bets when I say I think it would be an incredibly close, hard-fought affair.

    Both players were, in mental terms, raging monsters. Each would fight to the end, never giving up a single easy point, doing their utmost throughout to win.

    On clay, though, there's no doubt in my mind that Wilander would come through. He would drive Becker to distraction, wearing him down by getting everything back, being a constant thorn in his side.

    Wilander was just so tough mentally and physically, with such street smarts, that he could get under his opponents' skin. He knew full well that people underestimated him and made the most of it, even pulling off the trick of somehow making the man across the net play badly against him.

    So gritty was his approach, in fact, that he genuinely revelled in seeing his opponents fading, and openly admitted that he loved seeing physical pain on their faces as he wore them down!

    I can't see Becker ever living comfortably with that, and though the German would probably hold a couple of his service games my call is that Wilander wins the clay set 6-2.

    On grass, it's the exact opposite. Wilander's game was never really made for tennis's fastest surface and he was never a factor at Wimbledon - as his record shows.

    Becker's big serve and more aggressive approach would have easily seen him dominate the Swede.

    He had more tools than just those, however. Everyone remembers the way Boris used to dive all over the court, but as well as those spectacular moves he had huge ground strokes on both forehand and backhand. Becker would win the grass set 6-2.

    In the hard court set, though, it really is all but impossible to call.

    I'd see it as being an incredible battle, because Becker just as much as Wilander was a giant of the mental side of the game.

    Becker's serve would mean he wouldn't be broken, Wilander's grit would ensure that the set goes to a tie-break - and I reckon it would be an epic one.

    Who would win? Well, I'll probably regret coming down on one side of the fence or the other... but I'm going to go with Becker, 14-12, in the tie-break.

    Final Verdict

    Becker wins 2-1

    2-6 (clay court), 6-2 (grass), 7-6(12) (hard court).

    What's your view on the match-up? Leave your comments below and remember to vote on the tennis page. We will publish the final result and the best of your comments next Wednesday.

    About Simon Reed

    Simon Reed"s career began with BBC Radio in the late sixties when he worked for BBC Radio Sport, BBC World Service and BBC Radio London. From 1973, he was a presenter and reporter for Thames TV before freelancing in the early days of Sky Sports. In 1995, he became Head of Commentators for Eurosport specialising in tennis. He has covered three Olympic Games and has commentated on the last eight Wimbledon Championships.

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