Becker says put your money on Sampras, the greatest ever on grass

The Wimbledon men's champion in 1985, 1986 and 1989 rates this year's contenders.

Tim Henman

He has a chance every year but, now that Pete Sampras is not at his level of five years ago, Tim is the next best instinctive grass-court player. Goran Ivanisevic is out this time and Pat Rafter is not going to suddenly show up out of the Australian bush so two of his main rivals are gone. But for the weather Henman would almost certainly have beaten Ivanisevic last year. But Tim is still improving and is one of a handful of serious contenders who can win Wimbledon this year, and I believe he will win it eventually. He moves well and has a natural game for it but everything has to come together. He has to be in perfect shape, to have played good tennis before the tournament and to have become accustomed to Wimbledon again. For a foreigner this is hard enough, but Tim has to cope with so many expectations. He plays better each year but the pressure grows too. He has the talent and he just needs the right breaks at the right time.

Pete Sampras

I would always put my money on Sampras because he's probably the greatest grass-court player of all time. He's won Wimbledon more than anybody. OK, he's not been winning tournaments recently and has sometimes been losing early on, but he's really been gearing up towards the majors and the grand slams. He showed this at the US Open and he has always demonstrated that Wimbledon means something special to him. So I think Sampras is likely to be Henman's main rival.

Andre Agassi

He is another who has won Wimbledon and knows its significance. That is very important if a player is to get a feel for an event. To win this one you need to understand the place. And Agassi knows Wimbledon inside out.

Lleyton Hewitt

Of the younger guys Hewitt is more of a threat than the others because he has already played at Wimbledon three times and, although he doesn't play a serve-and-volley game, he knows how to play on grass. He's really made his mark in the past nine months and has a level of confidence he didn't have before. He has been one of the favourites at Wimbledon before and will be again. But now he has to prove it.

Roger Federer

If he had any mental block about whether he is good enough to win on grass that should have gone after beating Sampras at Wimbledon last year. He definitely has the game and is definitely to be considered as a contender but I don't know if he yet has the mentality to win the whole thing. I think he will be a future champion but I don't know about this year.

Marat Safin

His progress is really a question of concentration and attitude. He is very talented but sometimes his mind is not all there. At Wimbledon you have to be 100% focused so it is really up to Safin whether or not he is ready. He may really have been concentrating on trying to win the French Open first and foremost. After that he will have been regrouping, which is a tough job - though it can be done.

Greg Rusedski

He's always going to be a threat on a fast surface. If I were still competing I wouldn't want to play against him at Wimbledon. I would probably lose very quickly - in about 1 hours! Up to now he has played one or two matches well at the tournament but not put together a string of results or upset top players. But he has the serve and the game for it, so this could be his year.

Boris Becker is commentating for the BBC at Wimbledon. He was talking to Richard Jago

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