On those hot slower sticky hard courts, I can. So much depends on which Boris shows up, and how many sets that particular Boris hangs around The courts have been generous to the Lendl game, and but for that back problem, he would have done better.
The thing is Becker always seemed keyed up to play Lendl. Partly that was because they were longtime rivals, and Lendl was always up at the top of the game, always the guy that everyone targeted. But I think Becker also enjoyed the matchup against Lendl. It rarely took him out of his comfort zone.
Wilander seemed to be a different story for Becker, under certain conditions. Indoors, no problems, he could blast away against Mats. But on a hot day in Australia, on a slow court where he can't blow Wilander away, it could be totally a different story. Wilander would be giving him little pace, little for him to catch fire. That's just the sort of opponent that Becker always struggled against.
That particular day in Australia reached 40 degrees C, with a hot wind blowing. But intense heat never bothered Wilander. Becker said he was still recovering from a five-setter against Mecir two days earlier. Sometimes after those marathons he would seem to come out flat for his next match -- but I think the opponent has something to do with that. That's one thing I find so interesting about this topic.
In this case I can see Becker waking up feeling inspired to play Lendl, and getting fired up with the actual hard-hitting tennis that those two played. And besides, Lendl could struggle in windy conditions too, particularly with his toss. (That's one reason he played his best tennis indoors).
Meanwhile look at Wilander. He beat almost nobody after '88. Why is it on one hot day in Australia he seemed to play his best tennis again? I haven't seen the match -- but I'm suggesting maybe it was because he enjoyed some aspects of the matchup (or at least Becker did not enjoy them), and the circumstances were favorable to him (hot conditions did not generally bother him; he handled that bettered than almost anybody).
In general I think a player can look totally off-form, but one day he plays someone who is a favorable matchup for him (perhaps even his pidgeon), and suddenly he looks like he's turned back the clock and overcome all his problems. But the next round comes and that turns out not necessarily to be true.
Conversely, someone can be in great form, like Federer has been for months, and then suddenly against an uncomfortable opponent, old patterns can reappear.
