Mecir vs. Lendl '87 Lipton Final

[mrmike]

This was fun to watch. Mecir was an effortless mover. You could call him a pusher, but he really frustrated Lendl in this match.

http://youtu.be/4_34nkKIUXc

[Mustard]

Mecir carved Lendl up in that match. It's great to watch. Mecir's win over McEnroe in the 1987 WCT Dallas final was just as good, as were Mecir's numerous demolitions of Wilander.

[pc1]

Originally Posted by Mustard

Mecir carved Lendl up in that match. It's great to watch. Mecir's win over McEnroe in the 1987 WCT Dallas final was just as good, as were Mecir's numerous demolitions of Wilander.

You watch Mecir and wonder how a guy can play so smoothly and make those shots with such ease.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by pc1

You watch Mecir and wonder how a guy can play so smoothly and make those shots with such ease.

True, and also how he would be steadily rallying on the baseline and would then glide very fast to the net to hit a winning volley. That's where he got the "Big Cat" nickname from.

[kiki]

Originally Posted by Mustard

Mecir carved Lendl up in that match. It's great to watch. Mecir's win over McEnroe in the 1987 WCT Dallas final was just as good, as were Mecir's numerous demolitions of Wilander.

His first big win was against Connors in Phily 85 which made him workdwide famous.were there more encounters between both?

[pc1]

Originally Posted by kiki

His first big win was against Connors in Phily 85 which made him workdwide famous.were there more encounters between both?

According to the ITF website they met four times and split the four.

http://www.itftennis.com/ProCircuit/...ayer2=10000900

[kiki]

Originally Posted by pc1

According to the ITF website they met four times and split the four.

http://www.itftennis.com/ProCircuit/...ayer2=10000900

Thanks it was potentially a great match to see

[slowfox]

Originally Posted by mrmike

This was fun to watch. Mecir was an effortless mover. You could call him a pusher, but he really frustrated Lendl in this match.

http://youtu.be/4_34nkKIUXc

One of my fav matches. Lendl was so frustrated he was blaming stray towels, malfunctioning audio tech, the stadium etc. Mecir even made fun of him for a moment.

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by pc1

You watch Mecir and wonder how a guy can play so smoothly and make those shots with such ease.

I loved Mecir's style of play from the first time I saw him.

He was so smooth and effortless with beautiful footwork (a pre-Fed Fed) that he often looked like he was playing in slow-mo but he wasn't.

Everything early and graceful, nothing appears rushed or last-second.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_34nkKIUXc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUZf4...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2bzl...eature=related

[Moose Malloy]

Here are some stats on took on Mecir-Lendl Lipton

Lendl
42-98 43% 1st serve
25-42 59.5% 1st serve pts won
30-56 54% 2nd serve pts won
4 aces
7 doubles
drew 18 return errors(5 on 2nd serve)
10 of the return errors he drew from Mecir were bh's
21 non service winners(13 fh, 3 bh, 4 fhv, 1 bhv)
2 of 5 on break points

Mecir
71-100 70% 1st serve
48-71 68% 1st serve pts won
18-29 62% 2nd serve pts won
4 aces
1 double
20 return errors(4 on 2nd serve)
14 of the return errors he drew were bh's
25 non service winners(6 fh, 9 bh, 4 fhv, 6 bhv)
6 of 12 on break points

stats from espn
after 2 sets
Lendl-14 winners, 20 unforced errors
Mecir-21 winners, 20 unforced errors

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Moose Malloy

Lendl
25-42 59.5% 1st serve pts won
30-56 54% 2nd serve pts won

Mecir
48-71 68% 1st serve pts won
18-29 62% 2nd serve pts won

When serves were successfully returned:

Mecir was 28 of 51 on 1st serve (55%) and 14 of 24 on 2nd (58%).
Lendl was 8 of 25 on 1st serve (32%) and 25 of 44 on 2nd (57%).

So if Mecir could get Lendl's first serve back, he won 2/3 of the time.

You can see a little of the reason why, in the 2nd point of my clip. Even though I'd classify Lendl's BH error as unforced, he did not expect his serve to come back like that, if at all. Mecir was putting pressure on him by blocking the hard serves back so well.

Connors used to do that to Lendl a lot. Djokovic is doing it very well today.

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Moose Malloy

Lendl
42-98 43% 1st serve
25-42 59.5% 1st serve pts won
30-56 54% 2nd serve pts won

This stands out. Very unusual to see Lendl, with his aces and service winners included, below 60% success on 1st serve. Some of that can be attributed to his low ace count.

So in this match his 1st serve success ended up only 5 percentage points ahead of his 2nd serve success.

In their USO final, by contrast, there were 21 percentage points between Lendl's success on 1st and 2nd (81% vs. 60%), much more what you would expect from his 1st serve even against a great returner. He had 10 aces in that match.

In their AO final, Lendl's 1st serve was fine again (78%), though he did poorly on 2nd serve (35%). He had 14 aces.

Out of the 3 matches -- USO, Lipton, AO -- Lendl played the best at the USO. He made 68% of his first serves and won 81% of them: so he sacrificed nothing by getting the first serve in.

And he had healthy success on 2nd serve.

In AO he served at only 52%, and had some difficulty on 2nd serve.

At Key Biscayne he made only 43% of his first serves, and won only 59% of those.

[krosero]

New York Times:

Lendl did not think his latest defeat was an omen. Any time he loses, he said, people question whether he is slipping.

Still, he appeared to have more questions than answers. He has lost the touch on his ground strokes, he said, especially the backhand. Thus, he cannot generate any pace and is committing an unusual number of unforced errors. At the same time, however, he said that hitting with pace is just what Mecir feeds on.

Lendl also minimized his problems with his serve. He made only 43 percent of his first serves today, double-faulting seven times with just four aces. ''I don't think the serve is that important against Miloslav,'' Lendl said. Yet a big serve leads to easy points, which is never a detriment when playing someone who covers a court like Mecir, keeping the ball in play.

From the outset, it was apparent this would not be a repeat of the Open final. Mecir broke Lendl in the first game of the match as Lendl made three unforced errors and then double-faulted at break point.

He broke Mecir in the eighth game to make it, 4-4, but was broken again in the 11th, double faulting twice and hitting two backhands wide. By now, the tempo had been established, and Lendl was playing Mecir's game. The first set took an hour to play as they engaged in prolonged baseline rallies, trading slice backhands.

Mecir broke Lendl in the first game of the second set, too, changing his own strategy and catching Lendl napping with two volley winners. Mecir actually came to the net more than Lendl, winning 20 of 31 approaches. Lendl won only 10 of 24. It was another indication that Lendl did not feel on top of his game.

Chicago Tribune:

In five of Mecir's six service breaks, Lendl double-faulted at least once.

[bluetrain4]

Mecir was awesome, and he beat all the top players of his generation at one time or another. What held him back? He got beat pretty bad in his 2 Slam finals.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by bluetrain4

Mecir was awesome, and he beat all the top players of his generation at one time or another. What held him back? He got beat pretty bad in his 2 Slam finals.

Hard to say. Mecir was very much a "feel" player, and either played well or didn't, depending on how he felt on the day. Apart from this one brilliant win over Lendl at 1987 Miami (arguably the best win of Mecir's career), Mecir had a very poor record against Lendl. The 1986 US Open final was competitive until Lendl won the first set, and then it was a blowout. In the 1989 Australian Open final, Lendl kept hitting shots down the middle to deny Mecir angles, and Mecir didn't do enough to counteract this and it was again one-sided.

Also, I have to mention 1988 Wimbledon, when Mecir destroyed Wilander in the quarter finals 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, and was just as dominant in the first 2 sets of his semi final against Edberg in winning them 6-4, 6-2. Mecir's level stayed pretty high even in the following 3 sets even if it had dropped a bit from the first 2 sets, but Edberg was hanging on and started to get more of the crucial points and he eventually came back to win by 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. When you watch this match, you wonder how Mecir didn't win.

Mecir's back troubles began in 1988 as well, I believe, which forced his early retirement after 1990 Wimbledon at the age of 26.

[ClarkC]

Originally Posted by bluetrain4

Mecir was awesome, and he beat all the top players of his generation at one time or another. What held him back? He got beat pretty bad in his 2 Slam finals.

When Lendl beat him in the U.S. Open final, Lendl forgot to get only 43% of his first serves in and hit lots of double faults. Instead, he had a normal serving day.

[heathcliff]

did mecir play with a wooden racket ?

[pc1]

Originally Posted by heathcliff

did mecir play with a wooden racket ?

Yes he did and I believe he reached the 1986 US Open final with one. Not 100% certain however.

[heathcliff]

Originally Posted by pc1

Yes he did and I believe he reached the 1986 US Open final with one. Not 100% certain however.

you´re right, and he won gold in seoul ´88 and reached the ao-final in ´89 with wood. but did he also played the lipton´s 1987 with wood ?

[Mustard]

Mecir didn't have the wooden racquet by 1989. Mecir at the 1986 US Open was the last player to get to a major final with a wooden racquet.