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Nothing but superlatives will do for this all-star semifinal. Among the men, Federer and Borg are the two best big-match players of the Open era: Federer has won the most Grand Slam titles, with 17, while Borg owns the highest winning percentage, 89.80, at the four majors. Federer has more victories over Top 10 opponents than anyone else, while Borg has the best match win rate, 70 percent, against his fellow Top Tenners. Each is a consummate athlete who excelled on all surfaces—Federer has cited Borg’s five straight Wimbledon titles as an inspiration for his own five-title run there.
While Federer has more power, superior volleys, and a more complete game, what Borg did well—run, pass, defend, grind, endure—he did better than anyone. Yet he would likely need to do more than that to stay in rallies and counter Federer’s forehand-based assault. “Borg was the best neutralizer of all time, and best mover in terms of efficiency and speed,” Tim Mayotte says. “But he would have to adjust and penetrate to Federer’s backhand.”
Borg, a six-time champion at the French Open, would be favored to leg out the first set on clay; Federer, a five-time champion at the U.S. Open, would be favored to dictate the points on hard courts. “It would all come down to the grass,” Gilbert says. There Borg’s famously deep court positioning would allow Federer to set the terms of rallies, and the Swiss’ own clutch serving, which has carried him through in so many of his matches, could be expected to give him the edge again.
