Match Stats/Report - Mecir vs Wilander, Hamburg semi-final, 1985

[Waspsting]

Miloslav Mecir beat Mats Wilander 6-1, 6-2 in the Hamburg semi-final, 1985 on clay

Mecir would go onto win the title, beating Henrik Sundstrom in the final. It was the pair’s first match. They would meet shortly after in the Rome semi-final, with Mecir again winning

Mecir won 60 points, Wilander 36

(Note: I’m missing partial data for 2 points -
Set 1, Game 5, point 5 - serve direction and corresponding return data
Set 2, Game 4, Point 3 - serve direction, corresponding return data and via audio and educated guess, its been marked a serve-volley. Confirmed net point, but not serve-volley)

Serve Stats
Mecir...
- 1st serve percentage (29/40) 73%
- 1st serve points won (21/29) 72%
- 2nd serve points won (6/11) 55%
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (3/40) 8%

Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (33/56) 59%
- 1st serve points won (16/33) 48%
- 2nd serve points won (7/23) 30%
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (6/56) 11%

Serve Patterns
Mecir served...
- to FH 46%
- to BH 41%
- to Body 13%

Wilander served...
- to FH 45%
- to BH 43%
- to Body 11%

Return Stats
Mecir made...
- 49 (24 FH, 23 BH, 2 ??), including 3 runaround FHs & 6 return-approaches
- 6 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 2 Forced (2 FH)
- Return Rate (49/55) 89%

Wilander made...
- 36 (20 FH, 16 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 3 Errors, all unforced...
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (36/39) 92%

Break Points
Mecir 6/14 (6 games)
Wilander 1/2 (1 game)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Mecir 28 (12 FH, 10 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV)
Wilander 5 (2 FH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)

Mecir's regular FHs - 2 cc, 1 inside-out/dtl, 3 drop shots (2 at net)
- FH passes - 4 cc, 1 lob, 1 running-down-drop-shot cc at net
- regular BHs - 3 dtl, 1 inside-out/dtl, 2 drop shots
- BH passes - 1 dtl, 3 lobs

- 2 from return-approach points (2 FHV)

Wilander's FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Mecir 24
- 15 Unforced (2 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 4 BHV)
- 9 Forced (3 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)... the BHV was a baseline pass attempt
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50.7

Wilander 28
- 14 Unforced (5 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 14 Forced (6 FH, 7 BH, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index

(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 19/27 (70%) at net, with...
- 4/6 (67%) return-approaching
- 0/2 forced back/retreated

Wilander was...
- 12/27 (44%) at net, including...
- 3/7 (43%), serve-volleying, all 1st serves
---
- 0/1 forced back

Match Report
To coin a phrase, ‘white magic’ from Mecir. As in, there is some observable pattern or structure to what he does (the ‘white’ part) and what he does is amazing (the ‘magic’). Though he does it with such gentle ease that one would think he’s simply playing a park player that he’s toying around with for fun

28 winners from Mec or 1.87 per game. Putting that in context -
- both players combined have 11 unreturned serves/double faults
- both players combined have 29 UEs (15 by Mec, 14 for Mats)
- both players combined have 23 FEs (9 by Mec, 14 by Mats)
- Mats has 5 winners. Mec has more than double that of either FH or BH alone (and he has more volleys too)

28 winners, 15 UEs. Would take some searching to find virtual 2:1 winners to UEs showing on clay. There’s only a handful of such showings from full serve-volley matches on grass

Mec doesn’t serve-volley. Point-starter of a serve (he has no aces and just 3/40 unreturned serves), as harmless as can be. Returns consistently against slightly less weak serve then his own (still in harmless territory), with just the early taken, spanked return-approaches damaging

Otherwise, virtually all points with equal prospects for both players
From there, Mec turns the soon to be French Open champion inside-out

cc + dtl 1-2s off both wings is the backbone of his offence
First cc shot isn’t too wide or powerful, but enough to get Mats close enough to sideline, from where Mats responds with comfy cc of his own
Second shot goes dtl, again, not overly powerful, and he follows to net
Rarely, ball goes through for winner. More often, Mats with running, sliding ‘get’ to reach ball and very forced passing error
Smaller amount of wrong-footing shots. BH inside-out’ish shots are handy here

Doesn’t take long to get to the 1-2. No long, unnecessary pre-amble of groundies exchanges. Though he’s actually come out better even at that, and has 4 neutral UEs to 8 from Mats

Drop shots. Gorgeous, disguised, perfect drop shots for winners. Both wings. He hasn’t pushed Mats back to set up so the disguise is important

On the volley, prefers angled, drop volleys, including inside-out ones. But success of net play is based on the artsy baseline set up. He’s left with easy finishing volleys and isn’t actually too good there. 6 winners, 5 UEs on the volley - with both the misses and winners being easy ones. And 2 of those winners come from another starring ‘move’…

Very early taken, spanked return-approach. Again, return does more of the work than the volleying. The only time power rises to damaging levels

Outplayed and toyed with from the back, Mats takes to coming in himself, including via serve-volley. Which opens up different drawer of passing magic for Mec
Pinpoint perfect, angled passing winners on the move/slide. Way he makes those, would think stable position pass would be a gimme for Mec - and you’d be right
But where’s the art, magic or fun in just putting pass after pass winner? Mec throws in gorgeous lobs to mix it up. Again, off both wings. Not a ghost of a chance for Mats to reach them

28 winners, 24 errors (15 UEs, 9 FEs) from Mec, while forcing 14 more errors. Mats has 5 winners, 14 UEs

And what is Mats doing while all this is going on?( Mostly watching and running)

Like Mec, harmless serve and very consistent return against an even more harmless one
Trades a few groundies, solidly. Til Mec starts his pretty 1-2+ combos
Hurt by those, Mats turns to manufacturing approaches himself. Solid to good ones, if not as precisely artful as Mec’s

First volley he gets at net is something between ‘regulation, under-net’ to ‘lowish’
Has to volley up to it some. Mats’ isn’t the most powerful puncher of volleys to begin with and from this height, would be extremely difficult to get very aggressive volley deep. And he’s no drop volleyer, so he looks to go deep
Doesn’t miss much, but decent look at pass for Mec. For the rest, see earlier description of Mec’s passing

Cutely, both players at net 27 times. Mec wins 19 of his, Mats 12 (and 2 of Mats’ is via unreturned serves)

I think Mec is playing with a wooden racquet. Its got a ‘V’ neck, but looks like its wooden

How has it all come out in numbers?

In count isn’t too important. Its more so for Mats because his second serves occasionally get spank, return-approached and because he takes to first serve-volleying some

 

[Waspsting]

Unreturned rates - Mec 8%, Mats 11%
No aces, both with 1 double fault
Only 2/9 return errors have been marked FEs - and both times, its due to serve-volleying
Barely a forceful first serve from either player. Maybe 2-3 ones of jarring pace, and they’re all returned

Then they rally from the back. In baseline rallies -
- Winners - Mec 10 (4 FH, 6 BH), Mats 2 FHs
- Errors forced - Mec 3, Mats 1
- UEs - Mec 10, Mats 12

Starting with neutral UEs, Mec has 4, Mats 8

Mats’ bread & butter. There isn’t prolong contests here, because Mec attacks first (and Mats is more or less forced to in response - with alternative of defending). Not short rallies, but not overly long and average force of shots. Neither player going edgily wide. Mec just more secure, Mats not bad

Attacking UEs - both 4
Most of these would be approach shots, Mec maybe with odd wide cc shot. With average power, movement and shot tolerance aren’t tested much and both players able to handle other’s ‘edgy’ shots on the slide. Mec indulging a little more, so Mats making more reactive, sliding shots, but not much

Winner attempt UEs - Mec 2
On FH, 1 drop shot winner, 3 solid hits (1 from well up the court) from Mec. Mats has 2 - 1 from well up court
On BH, Mec with 3 dtl, an inside-out-ish shot and 2 droppers for winners. Mats 0

Mec’s FH rock of match with 2 UEs, Mats has 5
BHs are near even - Mec 8, Mats 7, with higher lot of Mec’s being aggressive UEs

Both players end up coming to net 27 times (Mec wins 70% there, Mats 44%)
Its Mec who starts, and Mats follows his example more and more

Mec on volley has 6 winners, 5 UEs, 1 FE
Mats on pass has 10 FEs

It’s the well crafted approach that does the trick for Mec. He’s left with easy volleys, and that’s a bad lot of UEs for that. Still, volleys are hard punched to leave Mats an even worse look pass than the approaches do. Hardly a 50% look for Mats - he has no winners and forces just 1 volley error. Its his way to not go for too much on pass in general + his not having whole lot of say in the matter here

Mats on the volley has 3 winners, 2 UEs, 1 FE
Mec on the pass has 10 winners (6 FH, 4 BH), 7 FEs (3 FH, 3 BH, 1 baseline BHV)

Obvious whose winning that one. Mats not approaching as wide as Mec does, subsequently, Mec with better look at first pass (still not a good one, Mats does approach with initiative of force on his side)
Nice, trickily low-ish first volley for Mats to make. Which he does, but then Mec is superb at passing him. There are 4 lob winners, which add to the beauty of Mec’s showing
Mec making some bad look winners too while on run/slide. Surgically placed

Match Progression
Its not a nice day for tennis. Fans have umbrellas out all of first set and both players are in long sleeves. In second set, the umbrellas go down and Mats changes to short sleeves

Mec opens up 2-0 lead, before Mats gets on board
Mec wins next 9 games to lead 6-1, 5-0
Doing all the things mentioned earlier. Biggest change across sets is Mats taking to serve-volleying some in second set, but he seeks net even in first, though not as much as Mec

Break to start. First winner of the match is a FH cc pass from Mec, which comes after a long baseline rally. Mec takes net behind BH dtl to win another point, and beautifully comes in off a BH inside-out after that to finish with a BHV winner for the break

It’s a mercy Mats is able to hold next go around. Mec with a lovely, drop shot Mats in and BH lob him for winner early in the game, but he trails 30-15. Outplays Mats with strong BHs (cc and dtl) for next 2 points to come to net, but misses easy, slightly wide volleys

All kinds of high art from there to 5-0 in second set

Mec’s next break takes 16 points, and its 4-1 in first set
Game after sees 5 straight winners - Mec with 4 of them (inside-out drop BHV set up by FH dtl, a BH drop shot that looks like a change of shot, a BH dtl and a third ball FH drop shot from well up court)
Another break to finish soon after - last 3 points end with Mec cozily dispatching a bad drop shot, forcing a wide BHV error and a FH cc pass winner after net chord dribbling return forces Mats in

3 winners in love hold to open second set - FH cc after moving Mats corner to corner, a FH inside-out/dtl set up by wide FH cc and a perfectly disguised BH drop shot against a slice

Mats brings out serve-volley in his first service game. Gets low wide first volley to make, makes it, and sees it gets dispatched over his head for another winner. Mec raises 4th break point of game with a runaround FH cc return that he spanks and moves in to dispatch easy FHV winner. Mats gives up routine BH UE to lose the game
That took 10 points
Next break takes 4 - all of them winners. FHV set up by BH cc up the court, BH dtl as serve-volleying Mats is on his way back to baseline, another beautiful FH lob and a drilled BH dtl pass

At 5-0, Mec has literally won double the points Mats has, 52-26

Mats gets on board with easy hold to 15, where he draws 3 return errors (2 of them serve-volleying). And then breaks in another game where Mec’s combos and shots still take the eye

Mec wraps up with break to 15 - mostly a bad one from Mats, who gives up couple of ground UEs and on match point, misses easy putaway FHV serve-volleying

Summing up, sublime showing from Miloslav Mecir - high art, with magical properties
Opens up court with cc and dtl combos off both wings, or less often simple combos ending with wrong-footing shot. Takes net, behind said combos, drawing weak running passes that he swats away. Or the combos end with straight winner to begin with. Even more beautiful drop shots

And when Wilander comes to net - not doing so is suicide - makes tricky passes on the run, drawing weaker volley that he dispatches. Occasionally skipping the first step and just dismissing perfectly placed pass from bad position

Mats Wilander is steady enough from back, but has things taken out of his hands after that and turned into puppet. Would really need to hit harder to keep opponent from putting ball where, how and when he wants

 

[WCT]

This incredibly lopsided winner total reminds me of the Mcenroe Wilander Masters match you did. It was 1 and 1 and I believe you had Mcenroe with 30 winners vs 3 for Wilander. Perhaps Mecir's is even more impressive because it was on clay?

 

[Waspsting]

This incredibly lopsided winner total reminds me of the Mcenroe Wilander Masters match you did. It was 1 and 1 and I believe you had Mcenroe with 30 winners vs 3 for Wilander. Perhaps Mecir's is even more impressive because it was on clay?

I think so
Mac was knocking off volleys serve-volleying and also passes

Mecir's doing passes, baseline rally winners and a few volleys
Conjuring approaches from rallies like its the easiest thing in the world
Its the grace and variety of Mecir that stands out

He outplays Mats by out-manuvering him, not run of the mill overpowering
Baseline winners include perfect dtl shots and beautiful drop shots
Passing winners perfectly placed stuff, and beautiful lobs
All those passing FEs he draws too... hard stamped volleys, hopeless look passes

Do you know for sure if Mecir was using a wooden racquet? It looks like it to me

 

[WCT]

I don't know for sure what racket Mecir used. He sure was a unique player, though.

 

[Vincent-C]

I think so
Mac was knocking off volleys serve-volleying and also passes

Mecir's doing passes, baseline rally winners and a few volleys
Conjuring approaches from rallies like its the easiest thing in the world
Its the grace and variety of Mecir that stands out

He outplays Mats by out-manuvering him, not run of the mill overpowering
Baseline winners include perfect dtl shots and beautiful drop shots
Passing winners perfectly placed stuff, and beautiful lobs
All those passing FEs he draws too... hard stamped volleys, hopeless look passes

Do you know for sure if Mecir was using a wooden racquet? It looks like it to me

Mecir used a Snauwaert midsize woodie, as far as I recall. Don't think he ever changed to all-graphite, but others might
have better info.

What a player! Mecir's '87 WCT finals win over JMac is another gem.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Mecir used a Snauwaert midsize woodie, as far as I recall. Don't think he ever changed to all-graphite, but others might
have better info.

What a player! Mecir's '87 WCT finals win over JMac is another gem.

the Snauwaert was wood reinforced with graphite

Thread 'Snauwaert Miloslav Mecir????'

Jul 31, 2010

I posted this in the classic raquets thread but I thought it might get more traffic here.

Anyone have any infor on this?

It has a metallic green finish paint that is very nice. As a matter of fact, it only has a single scuff that is approx 1" or the racquet would look new. It has a gold pinstripr that goes around it. The only words on the entire frame are , SNAUWAERT, MILOSLAV MECIR, & MADE WITH PRECISION IN BELGIUM BY SNAUWAERT & DELPA. It also has a couple of the "S" logos near the throat and the buttcap says "SNAWAERT" and so does the leather grip. It doesn't have any grip...

• dak95_00
• Replies: 13
• Forum: Racquets

 

[Gizo]

Mecir was clearly on fire during that Hamburg title run in 1985, not conceding more than 4 games in any of his 13 sets, and notably destroying the 3 Swedes Nystrom, Wilander and Sundstrom in succession in the last 3 rounds. Mecir moved WIlander all over the court and fired winners effortlessly. A joy to watch.

2 weeks later he enjoyed another comfortable win over Wilander in their Rome SF, breaking him 7 times in a row and leading 6-2 5-1 (with a match point) before Wilander rallied to make the 2nd set look more respectable. He then lost in what I thought was an entertaining 4 set battle against Noah (IMO he played pretty well despite his defeat) in the final.

Wilander must have been very relieved that Mecir (upset by Jaite in R3) landed on the opposite side of the draw to him at RG. In 1987 after the semis and ahead of the final, there was talk about Wilander being relieved to face Lendl instead of Mecir (who had destroyed him twice earlier that year albeit on carpet) in the final.