This guy is so intriguing to me. Big Cat, who gave him that name? Did he get that nickname because of the way he moved on court or the way he played? What was his playing style? Who can you compare him to in todays game. Thanks
An Italian sports journalist gave him that nickname because of the way he moved on the court. Between his anticipation and his explosive speed, he seemed to always have play on the ball. He was one of the fastest players ever to play the game.
His style was a flat ball hitting baseliner. He had short backswings like Connors but used his wrist more to disguise his shots. His hitting motion was also used to disguise his shots so that his opponents were often wrong-footed. He was a change of pace artist who threw his opponents off their timing by hitting an early ball and using angles to control the game. His favorite tactic was to give his opponent a well angled shot with little pace and then from the reply hit the ball into the open court. His two handed backhand is one of the best I've ever seen. Becker said he had the best one in that day.
There's no player in the game today that plays like him. He was the most unusual player, along with McEnroe, that I've ever seen. Between his flat strokes, his impeccable timing on the ball, he appeared to not be putting much pace on the ball when in fact he was. Mecir was sometimes compared with John Bromwich who played decades earlier.
Mecir was also the last player to use a wood racquet. He used a Snauwaert mid size composite and continued to use one in the late '80s after they ceased being made. Snauwaert had him paint his racquet to make it appear as one of the metal models that were being marketed.
Did you ever see him play? I saw him play about a dozen times in person. He came to Indian Wells a few years and I made sure I attended his matches.
I always enjoyed watching Mecir play. He had a very unique style for sure described well by Bancroft. Got to the U.S. Open final against Lendl one year. He beat Wilander on the way. Actually outsmarted him - a rare thing indeed.
Did anyone ever see Mecir play Connors in the World Team Cup competition in 1985. O my God, the poor guy Mecir! It was without question the single biggest choke/breakdown on court I have ever to this day witnessed. He was beating Connors 5-1 in the 3rd and deciding set. Mecir then tightened up so badly that he was hitting 1st serves either way over the baseline or they would not even reach the net on the fly (land about half-way b/w where he served and the net - honestly). He had to resort to UNDERHANDING SERVES to just get the ball in play. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A top 10 player who had to underhand serves in his last 3 service games just to get the ball in play. There was a British commentator who was flipping out over this developement. I remember he talked about Mecir's elbow "turning to jelly". Mecir of course proceded to lose to Connors 7-5 in the 3rd.
Last edited by Osama B Hitler : 12-18-2006 at 08:25 PM.
Mecir was good but there was always people better than him... Edberg, Lendl, Becker...
Love his style - Players who have similar styles are Kucera, who was a very good player till a right wrist injury forced him to drop out of the top 10 in 1999 and Nalbandian.
Mecir didn't seem to handle the pressure really well. Is this true?
It was more who his opponents were than pressure in general. Against Lendl he was generally intimidated, losing to him badly twice in major finals. I've seen him win against top players (Becker, Wilander, Edberg, McEnroe, Connors) in later rounds and finals of tournaments. I think his problem with Lendl was that he was playing a fellow, established Czech star and that after his defection to the U.S., his own country had placed so much in him to carry the nation's honor, especially against the former Czech.
Miloslav Mecir
Miloslav Mecir
ˇMarcela Tauro and Marcelo Polinoˇ 
