Mecir's style of Play versus Rafa on clay

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Deleted member 735320

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I was thinking the other day that Miloslav Mecir handled the topspin of the Swedes very handily back in his day. He was not an extreme hitter like Soderling but might his style have matched up well against Rafa? Could players emulate his approach to stop the Nadal train? Clearly what almost all of them are doing currently doesn't win against him on the red clay.
 
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Ray Mercer

Hall of Fame
No one handers are taking out Nadal. The lefty topspin with poly strings is too much. I think a prime Coria could take the 2018 version of Nadal out.
 

IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
Swedes liked to rush the net. Rafa not so much. One of Mecir's best weapons against the Swedes was very good passing shots/lobs.
 

IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
In fact the only Swede who did to this was Edberg. Please tell us when Borg, Wilander, Jarryd, Carlsson, Enquist, Johanssen, Nystron, Pernfors or Sundstrom EVER rushed the net off grass?! Wilander did it in one match, the USO final against Lendl.

Wilander S&V 46 times against Mecir in his crushing 1988 Wimbledon defeat:
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/stats-for-1988-w-qf-mecir-wilander.386145/

Here's some video of Wilander, Jarryd, and Nystrom rushing the net. (Borg never played Mecir, so is not relevent to Mecir's style of play and matchups)



 
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Deleted member 735320

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I am tired of seeing him win everything (essentially) on the clay. I just am not that in awe of his game but clearly he is all that based on the ridiculous numbers. I would think that ALL the coaches and players would be strategizing for different attempts. One player I think that would have handled him if he existed would have been a male Monica Seles. She caught the ball on the rise and was very mentally tough before the stabbing. Nadal wouldn't know what hit him some days against (male) Seles. Catch the ball on the rise and hit the hell out of it and of course create the extreme angles first.
 
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Deleted member 735320

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Roger's serve seems to be very effective on the grass but he is far more vulnerable on grass than Rafa is on clay.
 
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IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
i would say no since mecir wasnt necessarily known as as strong clay court player...
id rather see a guga v. nadal matchup myself

A modern-day version of Lendl would also be an interesting matchup against Nadal. Big serve (for his era of small rackets), fit, tactical, and big FH.

Lendl had no problem with Mecir, owning a 5:1 lifetime head-to-head, including 2 GS finals (Mecir's only two!) and a GS semifinal. Straight set victories in all 3 GS matches they played!. Mecir might have won 2 or 3 GS if it weren't for Lendl !
 
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reaper

Legend
A modern-day version of Lendl would also be an interesting matchup against Nadal. Big serve (for his era of small rackets), fit, tactical, and big FH.

Lendl had no problem with Mecir, owning a 5:1 lifetime head-to-head, including 2 GS finals (Mecir's only two!) and a GS semifinal. Straight set victories in all 3 GS matches they played!. Mecir might have won 2 or 3 GS if it weren't for Lendl !

Lendl may have used a racquet with a small head but not too many others did. Racquet head size is probably the same as in the 1980's/early '90's. Mecir was a mercurial player but suffered terribly with nerves, to the point of having to serve underarm in some matches. I don't see that his playing style would worry Nadal. He didn't (from memory) play a power game that allowed him to finish points quickly. If you can't finish the point quickly against Nadal, he's likely to win it most of the time.
 

IowaGuy

Hall of Fame
Lendl may have used a racquet with a small head but not too many others did.

Imagine how big Lendl's serve would be in today's era of stiff graphite 97" rackets! He would likely have one of the best serves in today's field, apart from Isner and Karlovic...

Others who used small head: Sampras, McEnroe, Connors, Courier, etc...
 
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BTURNER

Legend
I think its an intriguing match-up, but that rather pathetic second serve of Mecir's, would be a serious liability. Nadal would have him on the immediate
defensive and Nadal knows how to press the advantage.
 

BTURNER

Legend
I think its an intriguing match-up, but that rather pathetic second serve of Mecir's, would be a serious liability. Nadal would have him on the immediate
defensive and Nadal knows how to press the advantage.
 

BTURNER

Legend
I think its an intriguing match-up, but that rather pathetic second serve of Mecir's, would be a serious liability. Nadal would have him on the immediate
defensive and Nadal knows how to press the advantage.
 

Incognito

Legend
In fact the only Swede who did to this was Edberg. Please tell us when Borg, Wilander, Jarryd, Carlsson, Enquist, Johanssen, Nystron, Pernfors or Sundstrom EVER rushed the net off grass?! Wilander did it in one match, the USO final against Lendl.


Jonas Björkman served and volleyed :)
 

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
I was thinking the other day that Miloslav Mecir handled the topspin of the Swedes very handily back in his day. He was not an extreme hitter like Soderling but might his style have matched up well against Rafa? Could players emulate his approach to stop the Nadal train? Clearly what almost all of them are doing currently doesn't win against him on the red clay.
I don’t remember well Mecir’s play style. How was it?
I do remember he was mentally weak, casually of the kind that Nadal feasts on.
 
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Deleted member 735320

Guest
He played two hands on the backhand and moved effortlessly. He was not over powering but he was the last Grand Slam finalist to use a wooden racket in 1986. He seemed tp catch t he ball early if I recall. I know he feasted on the Swedes and upset Becker in 1986 US Open.
 
My game is based on Mecir, Federer, Santoro, Thomas and pure talent. If Nadal play doubles with me I can learn from him and he can learn from me and together we will win the doubles title at RG.
 

Wilander Fan

Hall of Fame
It would be interesting. Mecir, the Big Cat, was a very good player at one time breaking into the top 5. He had an unorthodox hitting style and seemed to keep the racket on the ball somehow longer. IN reality he had very good disguise and feel. He was particularly effective against the Swedes because they were known for generally playing with a lot of top spin on both sides and counter punching. The high kicking top spin balls went right into Mecirs hitting zone and he could flatten it out.

One thing people overlooked about Mecir is that he was very fast. Combined with great court positioning he seemed to just float to everything with enough time to set up and flatten out a big shot. Stylistically the closest current player that comes to mind is Fognini. But Mecir had better court craft, speed and athleticism. Could he trouble Nadal? I think so. A lot of the cross court shots Nadal hits to drive guys wide would come back down the line with Mecir as this was what he was doing to the Swedes as they were setting up their shots.
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Wilander S&V 46 times against Mecir in his crushing 1988 Wimbledon defeat:
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/stats-for-1988-w-qf-mecir-wilander.386145/



Here's some video of Wilander, Jarryd, and Nystrom rushing the net. (Borg never played Mecir, so is not relevent to Mecir's style of play and matchups).

@IowaGuy I clearly said in my post OFF GRASS. Obviously anyone can dig up a point or two where the Swedes (other than Edberg) "rushed the net." It's obvious none of them were serve/volleyers and none of them attacked the net, they were all emphatic baseliners. Yes, Jarryd was a great doubles player and a good volleyer, but off grass, he was a baseliner, as they all were except Edberg.
 
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Deleted member 733170

Guest
I am tired of seeing him win everything (essentially) on the clay. I just am not that in awe of his game but clearly he is all that based on the ridiculous numbers. I would think that ALL the coaches and players would be strategizing for different attempts. One player I think that would have handled him if he existed would have been a male Monica Seles. She caught the ball on the rise and was very mentally tough before the stabbing. Nadal wouldn't know what hit him some days against (male) Seles. Catch the ball on the rise and hit the hell out of it and of course create the extreme angles first.

Well fancy that!

You’ve outdone yourself with this amusing and imaginative postulation!

Hey, maybe you were being deadpan after all? Would a female Monica Seles be called Novak Djokovic!?
 
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