Match Stats/Report - Mecir vs Lendl, Miami final, 1987

[Waspsting]

Miloslav Mecir beat Ivan Lendl 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 in the Miami final, 1987 on hard court

The tournament had a full 128 man draw, 7 rounds, all matches best of 5 sets. This would be Mecir’s only win over Lendl in 6 meetings

Mecir won 109 points, Lendl 89

Serve Stats
Mecir...
- 1st serve percentage (71/100) 71%
- 1st serve points won (48/71) 68%
- 2nd serve points won (18/29) 62%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (24/100) 24%

Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (42/98) 43%
- 1st serve points won (25/42) 60%
- 2nd serve points won (30/56) 54%
- Aces 4, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 7
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/98) 22%

Serve Patterns
Mecir served...
- to FH 19%
- to BH 73%
- to Body 8%

Lendl served...
- to FH 29%
- to BH 66%
- to Body 5%

Return Stats
Mecir made...
- 69 (20 FH, 49 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 16 Errors, comprising...
- 10 Unforced (6 FH, 4 BH)
- 6 Forced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (69/91) 76%

Lendl made...
- 75 (22 FH, 53 BH), including 4 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 20 Errors, comprising...
- 17 Unforced (5 FH, 12 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 3 Forced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (75/99) 76%

Break Points
Mecir 6/12 (7 games)
Lendl 2/5 (3 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Mecir 26 (7 FH, 9 BH, 4 FHV, 6 BHV)
Lendl 20 (12 FH, 3 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV)

Mecir's FHs - 3 cc (1 at net), 3 dtl (2 passes)
- BHs - 5 cc (2 passes), 4 dtl (2 passes)

Lendl's FHs - 6 cc (3 passes - 1 at net), 2 dtl (1 return), 1 inside-in, 1 inside-in/cc, 1 lob, 1 net chord dribbler
- BHs - 1 dtl, 1 inside-in return, 1 running-down-drop-shot cc pass at net

- 1 FHV was a non-net swinging cc

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Mecir 46
- 35 Unforced (8 FH, 21 BH,1 FHV, 4 BHV, 1 OH)... the OH was on the bounce from the baseline
- 11 Forced (7 FH, 3 BH, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.4

Lendl 52
- 31 Unforced (14 FH, 15 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)... with 1 FH at net
- 21 Forced (8 FH, 13 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.7

(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Mecir was...
- 25/37 (68%) at net, including...
- 1/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
---
- 1/2 forced back

Lendl was...
- 12/23 (52%) at net, including...
- 1/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
---
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 0/2 forced back/retreated

Match Report
Dull of style and not a good match, with the loser playing poorly more than the Mecir playing particularly well behind he result. Lendl serves badly (low in-count) and implements a slow, passive dynamic chipping/slicing BHs to look to outlast opponent. Mecir holds his own in the go-nowhere rallies well enough and comes to outplay Lendl with sneak approaches and outmanuvering play in due time, with a very steady FH the cincher. Lendl gets distracted and loses his head and game at important times too. Court is slow

43% first serves in for Lendl. Its below 50% in ever set (chronologically 35%, 43% and 48%). Doesn’t even serve too damagingly and can only win 60% first serve points. To contrast, Mecir makes 71% first serves, though his serve is harmless

First serve points won - Mecir 68%, Lendl 60%
Second serve points won - Mecir 62%, Lendl 54%

Mecir better in all ways, with higher second serve points won than Lendl has firsts and 8% better off both serves. But Lendl not bad. For him, low first serve points won, speaking to not serving too strongly independent of low in count but he coming away with a decent 54% second serve points won speaks to him not doing too badly

Not doing too badly but worse than Mecir on all fronts, and slow court where returner can regularly get into games. Large leads in all basic stats for Mecir = comfy superiority for him

BH UEs - Mecir 21, Lendl 15

With Lendl leading with passive, BH-BH play, leading in this area is a good sign for him. Couple of things override it -

FH UEs - Mecir 8, Lendl 14
Net points - Mecir winning 68% of 37 approaches, Lendl just 52% of 23

… and that’s with fat bulk 14 of Lendl’s approaches coming in last set (also, 4 of Mecir’s small FH UE yield). For 2 sets, Lendl’s fixed on baseline doing little other than looking to play 1 more BH cc than opponent. Mecir giving up that one more ball more often than not, but also able to get forward and be aggressive at net often enough to outdo that. In conjunction with a super steady FH that gives away next to nothing, though not on forefront of action

Third set is different with Lendl taking charge with bigger serving, power play from the back, net seeking. It makes for more watchable tennis, but Mecir stays the course too

In all, both players -11 on winners/UE differential. Which rises to Mecir +10, Lendl +1 when errors forced are added. Not good figures for a not good match and Mecir clearly better

Serve & Return
Average at best on both shots by Mecir, below that for Lendl
Mecir with a weak serve; though getting 71% first serves in, bulk of them are second serve calibre serves. I’d estimate about 70% of them

He’s surprisingly got 4 aces but 17/20 return errors he’s drawn have been marked UEs. As routine returns as you can wish for - below average pace and in reach. Lendl looking to block-chip most of them, and missing

Lendl’s low 43% in count is his first serving sin. High double faults of 7 or 13% second serves is second; he’s only got 4 aces, 2 service winners, to put it in context

One noteworthy positive is Mecir’s first returning. Stands on baseline to return to cut off angles. It’s a risky move against Lendl, who has big power but tends not to place serves wide. Standing where he is, Mec can take the ball in swing zone, but can he handle the power?

Return rate of 76% is good for that. Maybe it has a hand in tempting Lendl to overload him with sheer power and missing so many first serves. He’s rushed against power of serves standing so close, but manages to fend most back. 10/16 return errors have also been marked UEs, with the first serves in reach and accounting for the position he takes being his choice, not about Lendl’s serve quality. Lendl doesn’t get serves wide and most are in easy reach too

Lendl missing a lot of routine and easy returns. Rarely, when having a big cut at it and usually, just normal block returns

Gist - both players returning at 76%, Lendl double faulting a lot more (Mecir has just 1), Lendl drawing softer returns. About even on this contest
Looking at match-up beyond this match, it does not bode well for Mecir that this contest is equal, while he’s got 28% in count lead and he’s not likely to have fair share of too many serve-return contests with Lendl

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Baseline, Net & Strategy
The two had met not long ago at the last US Open final. Lendl had successfully looked to overpower Mecir with FH. Seems an obvious ploy; Lendl has a powerhouse FH, Mecir’s is feeble by comparison

Here, Lendl’s done 180 and decided to lead with passive BH cc’ng. Chip-push BH cc’s at that

Two engage in long, who-blinks-first BH cc exchanges, with Lendl chip-pushing, Mecir coming over the ball. 15-20 shot exchanges are common, neither player looking to do anything but keep the ball in play. Lendl’s also got a net allergy for most of match and is in forecourt 9 time for first 2 sets. Even on FH does he rarely unload with power

Who’s serving and what tpe of serve doesn’t matter much. Across all 4 serves, rallies tend to end up who-blinks-first BH cc. Lendl not looking to take charge on his first serve points, and not having much trouble neutralizing Mecir’s (theoretical) first serve initiative

BH UEs likely to be key with this tune playing and Lendl has 15-21 advantage on that front and a thin 12-14 one in neutral UEs. Given his strategy, necessary. Mecir for his part not getting frustrated and going off the boil with errors trying to disrupt the dynamic

And able to create offensive openings by taking net. Often by sneaking in or quick-dash approaches from neutral positions, less often by moving Lendl to sides. Lendl’s offence for 2 sets is almost non-existent

Winners - Mecir 26, Lendl 20
Errors forced - Mecir 21, Lendl 11
UEs - Mecir 35, Lendl 31

Mecir solid enough to stay close on Lendl’s chosen consistency playground, resisting whatever itch he might have of hurrying to get out of it. And in time, able to attack with decent success

In baseline rallies
- Winners - Mecir 9, Lendl 11 (with 2 returns)
- Errors forced - Mecir 9, Lendl 5
- UEs - Mecir 30, Lendl 28

On FH, Lendl 8 winners, 13 UEs, Mecir 4 winners, 8 UEs
On BH, Mecir 5 winners, 21 UEs, Lendl 2 winners, 15 UEs

Lendl FH with match high winners, Mec match low UEs

Next to no proactive damage done by Lendl BH, but outsteadying Mec. On top the decent lot of winners, Mec’s BH also forces errors and sets up approaches. The setting up approaches is more about his choices than high quality BH play as he tends to make a dash for net from neutral position. He has luxury or picking his moments with Lendl content to push-chip BHs

FEs are important here. Rallies are long enough that much of what Mec does is simply hang in, but that’s not all he does. In due to time, he does get typical wide shots off to drawing running errors, especially with BH dtl, with small few wide BH cc’s in there. It’s sprinkles, not the pie, but with bland pie like this, he’s picked and chosen his moments well enough. BH is Mec’s wing to attack wide with

Lendl not too good on the run. Moderate power from Mec when attacking wide. Good defensive showing could put back in play more than miss, but Lendl usually gives up he FE when on defensive

Finally, Mec’s match low 8 FH UEs, which about half all the other shots on show (Lendl’s FH with 13 is next lowest). FHs see considerably less action than BHs, and Mec being so steady on that side has large hand in his overall superiority, giving him some margin to be outsteadied on other side without falling behind. Credit here to how steady his FH is here more than discredit Lendl for looseness. It’s a blinky match, and eyes on Mec’s FH are the widest open

Rallying to net - Mec 24/35 at 71%, Lendl 11/20 at 55%

Mec on volley - 10 winners, 5 UEs, 1 FE
Lendl on pass - 5 winners, 12 FEs

Lot of sneaky approaches from Mec, usually to Lendl’s BH, at least slightly wide. Lendl looking to chip passes delicately low. Not well. Can rarely get ball under net and without power. Pretty comfy volleys for Mec

5 UEs are pretty simple, while the winners are there to be putaway. Good move to come into Lendl BH, which has just 1 winner (a running-down-drop-shot shot), 10 passing errors. Not a great contest - Lendl weak on pass, Mec not too reliable on volley. Mec’s working of the approach is the best part of it

Lendl on volley 4 winners, 2 UEs
Mec on pass 6 winners, 5 FEs

Mec winning that one, with Lendl rarely coming in. Not great punching of volleys by Lendl, and Mec precise in placing his winners

Nature of action is 2 part
First 2 sets, passive from Lendl, with little other than push-chip BH play
He looks to attack with power and net play and bigger serving in third set

10/20 Lendl winners, 14/23 approaches (including both serve-volleys and sole return-approach) are in third set. Also, 3/4 aces and 1/2 service winners. He’s able to overpower Mec with drive BH cc’s even

Match Progression
Very passive play from Lendl at start of match. He chip-pushes BH cc’s and Mec plays along with regular, rolled BH cc’s in response. Lot of long BH-BH rallies, a’le Lendl-Wilander

BH cc winner from Mec to start the match. Acton does not continue with such stuff. He breaks, with Lendl blinking up couple BH UEs and double faulting
BH dtl UEs by Mec get Lendl to break point in game 4, but FH UEs from him see Mec hold for 3-1

Lendl breaks back for 4-4 in game where Mec is at net 5/8 points. Stand out point though is Lendl unleashing with a big, surprise BH cc that draws weak ball that Lendl swats away with a swinging FHV winner from no-man’s land; the point emphasizes just how rarely Lendl’s got stuck into any BHs at all. Mecir misses a slightly wide, but easy BHV to give up the break

Couple of incidents from there see Lendl lose his head. After double faulting, he asks ball boys to putaway a towel that had been lying around in visible position. Game after, Mecir lightly mocks him by pointing to this and that towel being out and insisting they be put into boxes, much to crowd’s amusement. Lendl does not seem amused and angrily powerful shots and says something to Mecir about it

Sound system is making a screeching sound that halts play. Mecir wants to play on, but Lendl insists on waiting for it to stop. Officials unplug the offending machinary, which cuts off the Chair’s microphone. When Lendl misses first serve that was also a let, he doesn’t hear the Chair’s fault call, and when he finally realizes he’s down to second serve, has another little burst of anger

Proceeds to play 1 of the worst games possible to get broken to love for 5-6 - 2 double faults, a FH dtl error in short rally and a third ball BH UE to wrap up. Mec serves out to 30, finishing with an ace and a winning, wide, powerful BH cc

Comfy second set for Mec. Lendls still grouchy at start and continues with chippy BH stuff. Mec takes to sneaking in and using attacking BH dtl plays more

Net points and a winning BH dtl get Mec break to start. A Lendl ball that’s 4-6 inches in is called out game after, but he doesn’t make much fuss about it
Back to back dtl passing winners (1 of each wing) and FHV winner from Mec get him another break for 4-1, and in due time, he serves out to love

Lendl finally switches to power hitting and aggression in third set. Big FHs, some big BH cc’s, approaches, even the odd serve-volley and return-approach (1 would be return-approach goes through for a clean winner). He tends to miss approach shots though

So playing, he opens up 3-0 lead, breaking in 10 point game starting with a would be BH inside-in return-approach that goes for winner, finishing with an error forcing BH dtl. With a big FH dtl winner and FH lob winner in between. He serves more powerfully than before too

Mecir gets on board with a love hold with 3 winners in it, with Lendl not making much effort to retrieve

Mecir breaks back for 3-4 in aggressive game from both players, with Lendl’s BH making 3 attacking UEs (2 of them approach errors)
At 30-30 next game, Lendl misses 2 simple, routine returns

Decisive break comes i14 point game. Point of the match is an open court rally and shot of the match is Mecir getting a very wide ball in play around the net chord judge and ball boy, let alone net post to stay in the rally, before eventually taking the point. Lendl saves first break point by overpowering Mecir to take net and reaches A-40 with an ace

From there, he falters - easy BHV miss, routine third ball FH miss and double fault - to get broken. The final double fault looks like it was in
Mec serves out to 30. Considering match, it fittingly ends with Lendl missing a push-slice BH cc, a throwback to how he’d played most of the day

Summing up, slow paced, drab match with Lendl leading action with chip-push BHs in an apparent attempt to breakdown Mecir’s BH. Mecir hangs in patiently and pretty well, and is choosey about when to attack either dtl or with sneaky trips to net, while being particularly secure off the FH

Poor serving from Lendl (low in count) and ordinary returning (failing consistency against a very ordinary serve) too, along with losing his composure and allowing standard of play to fall off minor on court irritations

More a bad show from the loser than a good one from Mecir

 

[King_olaf_the_hairy]

Match Report
Dull of style and not a good match, with the loser playing poorly more than the Mecir playing particularly well behind he result.

Thank you.

I've heard many people use this match to talk up Mecir, but when I rewatched it many years ago I just thought "geez, Ivan's stinking up the place today".

The weird thing is, I always dreaded the face-offs between these two, but in retrospect I've no idea why.

 

[Mustard]

I love this match. It's one of my favourites.

 

[HBK4life]

Thank you.

I've heard many people use this match to talk up Mecir, but when I rewatched it many years ago I just thought "geez, Ivan's stinking up the place today".

The weird thing is, I always dreaded the face-offs between these two, but in retrospect I've no idea why.

I think his game made Ivan play like poo.

 

[Pheasant]

Wow. This is a shocker. I don’t ever remember Mecir beating Lendl. I only remember Lendl giving Mecir some serious beatdowns at the USO a couple of times and another beatdown at the AO. But this time, Mecir clearly destroyed Lendl in a final. Amazing. I always liked Mecir’s game. And in this case, he destroyed peak Lendl in a final, a very rare feat during Lendl’s peak years of 1985-87(excluding grass courts).

This is awesome stuff.

 

[Mustard]

Wow. This is a shocker. I don’t ever remember Mecir beating Lendl. I only remember Lendl giving Mecir some serious beatdowns at the USO a couple of times and another beatdown at the AO. But this time, Mecir clearly destroyed Lendl in a final. Amazing. I always liked Mecir’s game. And in this case, he destroyed peak Lendl in a final, a very rare feat during Lendl’s peak years of 1985-87(excluding grass courts).

This is awesome stuff.

Mecir won 7-5, 6-2, 7-5. Mecir always felt in control, like he was controlling everything around him, even when 0-3 down in the third set strangely. Lendl was perpetually annoyed and disturbed during the match by all sorts of little things, from towels at courtside, to netcords, to malfunctioning speakers in the stands, to Mecir's sense of humour.

The rally of the century late in the third set. Check out from 39:20 in the video below:

 

[Pheasant]

Mecir won 7-5, 6-2, 7-5. Mecir always felt in control, like he was controlling everything around him, even when 0-3 down in the third set strangely. Lendl was perpetually annoyed and disturbed during the match by all sorts of little things, from towels at courtside, to netcords, to malfunctioning speakers in the stands, to Mecir's sense of humour.

The rally of the century late in the third set. Check out from 39:20 in the video below:

Wow! I just found this on youtube. What a rally! Mecir was dead in the water after Lendl hit a wicked BH. But Mecir ran it down and eventually won that rally. That rally appeared to have broken Lendl's spirit.

I will need to watch that whole match.

 

[Waspsting]

I've heard many people use this match to talk up Mecir, but when I rewatched it many years ago I just thought "geez, Ivan's stinking up the place today".

Lendl's a guy whose strategic sense I respect, but I don't know exactly what he's trying to do here

He'd largely overpowered Mecir in '86 US Open final with big FHs. Pretty recent, why change winning game?
Here, what exactly is he trying to do?

He leads with push-chip BH cc's, why? Is he expecting Mecir to blink up routine errors? or make a mess playing those wide angled cc's he likes?
In their Hamburg final not long after, Mecir did make a mess of BHs trying to go wide, so maybe its not poor strategy from Lendl

Still, would think he has better, more commanding ways of dealing with Mecir. He's got much more powerful FH

Also, he's playing a lot of chip passes, to get them ball little under the net. He does this only against players he seems to think don't volley well
Mecir strikes me as the type who'd prefer drop volleying winner from little under the net to punching them deep

The weird thing is, I always dreaded the face-offs between these two, but in retrospect I've no idea why.

How so? For prospects of one player or the other winning/losing or anticipating a dull match?

What a rally! Mecir was dead in the water after Lendl hit a wicked BH. But Mecir ran it down and eventually won that rally....
I will need to watch that whole match.

It amuses me to think of someone watching that amazing rally, tuning into full match with high expectations of similar stuff... knowing full well what they're actually getting themsevles into

But if you do, I'd like to hear your take on it

 

[King_olaf_the_hairy]

The weird thing is, I always dreaded the face-offs between these two, but in retrospect I've no idea why.

How so? For prospects of one player or the other winning/losing or anticipating a dull match?

Lendl was my favourite player, and I feared Mecir as an opponent. (In fact, Ivan's still my all-time favourite, even though I'm a Scot and Andy Murray exists.)

If you asked me back in the 1980s if I would prefer Lendl to be drawn against Leconte, Cash, or Mecir, I would have had a really tough time choosing. But given their respective H2Hs, Henri and Pat were clearly much more trouble; outside of the Lipton final Miloslav never won a set in five matches. So what was it that made me so nervous? I guess I'll never figure it out after all this time.

I do still have a lot of fondness for Mecir though. Lovely, stylish player, and such a shame his back problems became so chronic.

 

[Mustard]

He'd largely overpowered Mecir in '86 US Open final with big FHs. Pretty recent, why change winning game?
Here, what exactly is he trying to do?

It was on Mecir's racquet once Lendl didn't assert authority early on. Mecir likes to go slow (sometimes called lulling opponent to sleep), then suddenly fast, and loves angles. Lendl makes some errors in the 1987 Lipton final, it sets the wrong tone for him, and Mecir carves him up, not just with tennis but with the variables like towels around the court (Mecir took the mick, causing Lendl to lose his temper a bit) and malfunctioning speakers in the stands (Lendl was seriously annoyed with it). Lendl was beating himself more with frustration. At one point, Lendl even shouted out in frustration at the top of his lungs "Oh, come on!!!!" when an apparently good service winner was called a let.

The enigma and genius of Miloslav Mecir is on full display in the 1987 Lipton final in Key Biscayne. Lendl was caught in Mecir's web, and wasn't going to get out of it on that day anymore than Wilander would have. It was basically a role reversal of the usual dynamic between Lendl and Mecir. Usually, Lendl knew to hit big forehands and prevent Mecir having angles, and started matches with that purpose. On that day in Key Biscayne, Lendl didn't do that, lost momentum, lost his temper, and wasn't going to come back as Mecir did his thing. As I said before, even when Mecir went 0-3 down in the third set, I still felt that Mecir was totally in control.