Miloslav Mečíř

Miloslav Mečíř (; born 19 May 1964) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. He won the men's singles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games, representing Czechoslovakia, and contested two major singles finals. In 1987 he won the WCT Finals, the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis tour. His son Miloslav Jr. is also a former professional tennis player.

Career

Mečíř was born in Bojnice, Czechoslovakia (now part of Slovakia).

He reached two ATP finals in 1984 and began 1985 by beating Jimmy Connors in the semifinal at Philadelphia, before losing to world No. 1 John McEnroe in the final. He won his first ATP singles title in Rotterdam later that year, and ended 1985 ranked just outside the world's top 10.

He consolidated his position as a world class player in 1986, beating rising Stefan Edberg in straight sets at Wimbledon, before losing to defending champion Boris Becker in the quarterfinals. He reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open later that year, beating Mats Wilander and Boris Becker along the way to the final, where he faced fellow Czechoslovak, defending champion and world No. 1, Ivan Lendl. The 1986 US Open was notable for the fact that four players from Czechoslovakia competed in the two singles finals for men and women – Mečíř and Lendl, Helena Suková and Martina Navratilova. Lendl won the match in straight sets 6–4, 6–2, 6–0. Mečíř's 1986 US Open final appearance was the last major final to see a player still using a wooden racket.

Mečíř improved further in 1987, winning six singles and six doubles titles, notably winning the WCT Finals in Dallas, where he defeated John McEnroe in four sets. He met Lendl again in three high-profile matches that year, winning the final of the Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, Florida, while Lendl won the final of the German Open in Hamburg and the semifinals of the French Open.

By this time, Mečíř's sedate playing style was known to frustrate a lot of the more-powerful top ranked players. The Swedish players, in particular, were said to dislike playing against him.

Mečíř was on top form at Wimbledon in 1988, where he defeated Mats Wilander in the quarterfinal. It was Wilander's only Grand Slam singles defeat of the year (he won the 1988 Australian Open, French Open and US Open) yet Mečíř beat him in straight sets. He took a two-set lead in the semifinal against Edberg with a similar display, and later led by a break of serve in the final set, but Edberg eventually wore him down on the way to his first Wimbledon crown.

The highlight of Mečíř's career came later in 1988 when he was selected to represent Czechoslovakia in the Seoul Olympics. He defeated Eric Jelen, Jeremy Bates, Guy Forget and Michiel Schapers and then in the men's singles semifinals he exacted revenge over Wimbledon champion Edberg, in a five-set match. He then met Tim Mayotte of the U.S. in the men's singles final and won in four sets 3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–2 to claim the gold medal. He also won a bronze medal in the men's doubles, partnering Milan Šrejber.

In 1989, Mečíř reached his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Again he came up against Lendl and lost in straight sets. It was a tactical victory for Lendl, whose win saw him to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking from Wilander. After the match, Lendl apologized to the crowd, explaining that he and coach Tony Roche had decided the best tactic against Mečíř was to hit shots deep and down the centre of the court, denying his opponent the angles he thrived on.

Mečíř was a member of the Czechoslovak teams that won the World Team Cup in 1987 and the inaugural Hopman Cup in 1989. He is currently the Slovak Davis Cup captain.

During his career, Mečíř won 11 singles titles and nine doubles titles. His career-high world ranking in both singles and doubles was world No. 4. His final career singles title came in 1989 at Indian Wells. His last doubles title was also won in 1989 in Rotterdam.

Throughout most of 1989 and into 1990, Mečíř suffered from a worsening back injury and he retired in July 1990, aged just 26.

Playing style

Mečíř was a finesse player whose career straddled the transition from wooden and metal racquets towards modern graphite composites. He was noted for his touch shots as well as the ability to disguise his shots, particularly his two-handed backhand. His court coverage and graceful footwork earned him the nickname "The Big Cat". The French called him "Le Prestidigitateur" (The Conjuror).

Many top players used to cite Mečíř as the one player they most enjoyed watching because of his beautifully simple style and touch. He was known as the "Swede Killer" for the success that he had against Swedish players, especially Mats Wilander.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (0–2)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1986	US Open	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ivan Lendl	4–6, 2–6, 0–6
Loss	1989	Australian Open	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ivan Lendl	2–6, 2–6, 2–6

WCT Year–end championship finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1987	Dallas	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon John McEnroe	6–0, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2

Olympic finals

Singles: 1 (1 gold medal)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Gold	1988	Seoul	Hard	Template:Flagicon Tim Mayotte	3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–2

ATP Career finals

Singles: 24 (11 titles, 13 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–2)
Year-end championships – WCT (1–0)
Grand Prix (9–11)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Dec 1983	Adelaide, Australia	Grass	Template:Flagicon Mike Bauer	6–3, 4–6, 1–6
Loss	0–2	Sep 1984	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Template:Flagicon Francesco Cancellotti	0–6, 3–6
Loss	0–3	Oct 1984	Cologne, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Joakim Nyström	6–7, 2–6
Loss	0–4	Jan 1985	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon John McEnroe	3–6, 6–7(5–7), 1–6
Win	1–4	Mar 1985	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Jakob Hlasek	6–1, 6–2
Win	2–4	Apr 1985	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Henrik Sundström	6–4, 6–1, 6–4
Loss	2–5	May 1985	Rome, Italy	Clay	Template:Flagicon Yannick Noah	3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Win	3–5	Apr 1986	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Template:Flagicon Andrés Gómez	6–4, 4–6, 6–1, 2–6, 6–3
Loss	3–6	Aug 1986	US Open, New York	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ivan Lendl	4–6, 2–6, 0–6
Loss	3–7	Sep 1986	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Henri Leconte	2–6, 7–5, 4–6, 2–6
Win	4–7	Jan 1987	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Template:Flagicon Michiel Schapers	6–2, 6–3, 6–4
Win	5–7	Jan 1987	Sydney, Australia	Grass	Template:Flagicon Peter Doohan	6–2, 6–4
Win	6–7	Feb 1987	Miami, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ivan Lendl	7–5, 6–2, 7–5
Loss	6–8	Mar 1987	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Boris Becker	4–6, 3–6
Win	7–8	Apr 1987	WCT Finals, Dallas	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon John McEnroe	6–0, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Loss	7–9	Apr 1987	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Ivan Lendl	1–6, 3–6, 3–6
Win	8–9	Jul 1987	Stuttgart, West Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Jan Gunnarsson	6–0, 6–2
Win	9–9	Jul 1987	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Template:Flagicon Guillermo Pérez Roldán	6–4, 1–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	9–10	Aug 1987	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Template:Flagicon Emilio Sánchez	4–6, 1–6, 6–4, 1–6
Loss	9–11	Feb 1988	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Stefan Edberg	6–7(5–7), 2–6
Loss	9–12	Mar 1988	Orlando, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Andrei Chesnokov	6–7(6–8), 1–6
Win	10–12	Sep 1988	Olympic Games, Seoul	Hard	Template:Flagicon Tim Mayotte	3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–2
Loss	10–13	Jan 1989	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ivan Lendl	2–6, 2–6, 2–6
Win	11–13	Mar 1989	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Yannick Noah	3–6, 2–6, 6–1, 6–2, 6–3

Doubles: 12 (9 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
Year-end championships – ATP (1–0)
Grand Prix (8–3)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	28 July 1986	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Tom Nijssen Template:Flagicon Johan Vekemans	6–4, 6–2
Win	2.	6 October 1986	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Jakob Hlasek Template:Flagicon Pavel Složil	6–2, 3–6, 6–4
Win	3.	27 April 1987	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Claudio Mezzadri Template:Flagicon Jim Pugh	4–6, 7–6, 6–2
Loss	1.	11 May 1987	Rome, Italy	Clay	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Guy Forget Template:Flagicon Yannick Noah	2–6, 7–6, 3–6
Win	4.	27 July 1987	Hilversum, Netherlands	Clay	Template:Flagicon Wojciech Fibak	Template:Flagicon Tom Nijssen Template:Flagicon Johan Vekemans	7–6, 5–7, 6–2
Loss	2.	3 August 1987	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Sergio Casal Template:Flagicon Emilio Sánchez	6–7, 6–7
Win	5.	10 August 1987	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Clay	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Stanislav Birner Template:Flagicon Jaroslav Navrátil	6–3, 6–7, 6–3
Win	6.	21 September 1987	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Javier Frana Template:Flagicon Christian Miniussi	6–1, 6–2
Win	7.	9 November 1987	Wembley, U.K.	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Ken Flach Template:Flagicon Robert Seguso	7–5, 6–4
Win	8.	7 December 1987	Masters Doubles, New York	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Ken Flach Template:Flagicon Robert Seguso	6–4, 7–5, 6–7(5–7), 6–3
Loss	3.	15 February 1988	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	Template:Flagicon Boris Becker Template:Flagicon Eric Jelen	3–6, 3–6
Win	9.	6 February 1989	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Milan Šrejber	Template:Flagicon Jan Gunnarsson Template:Flagicon Magnus Gustafsson	7–6, 6–0

Singles performance timelines

Grand Slam tournaments

Tournament	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	Career SR	Career win–loss
Australian Open	1R	2R	A	NH	QF	A	F	4R	0 / 5	12–5
French Open	A	1R	3R	2R	SF	A	1R	1R	0 / 6	8–6
Wimbledon	A	2R	1R	QF	3R	SF	3R	2R	0 / 7	15–7
US Open	A	A	2R	F	QF	3R	3R	A	0 / 5	15–5
Grand Slam Win–loss	0–1	2–3	3–3	11–3	14–4	7–2	10–4	4–3	N/A	50–23
Grand Slam SR	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 23	N/A
Year-end ranking	101	50	9	9	6	13	18	116	N/A

Grand Prix tournaments

Tournament	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	Career SR
Indian Wells	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	W	1R	1 / 4
Miami	NH	NH	2R	A	W	SF	2R	A	1 / 4
Monte Carlo	A	A	A	3R	A	A	A	A	0 / 1
Rome	A	1R	F	3R	1R	A	1R	A	0 / 5
Hamburg	A	A	W	F	F	A	A	A	1 / 3
Canada	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	0 / 1
Cincinnati	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	0 / 1
Paris	A	A	A	1R	2R	2R	2R	A	0 / 4
The Masters	A	A	A	A	RR	A	A	A	0 / 1
Grand Prix SR	0 / 0	0 / 1	1 / 3	0 / 4	1 / 5	0 / 4	1 / 5	0 / 1	3 / 23

Record against top-10 players

Mečíř's record against those who have been ranked in the top 10, with active players in boldface.

Player	Years	Matches	Record	Win%	Hard	Clay	Grass	Carpet
Number 1 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Andre Agassi	1988	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Ilie Nastase	1984	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Pete Sampras	1989	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Mats Wilander	1985–1988	11	7–4	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–1	2–2	1–0	3–1
Template:Flagicon Jimmy Connors	1985–1989	4	2–2	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0
Template:Flagicon John McEnroe	1985–1989	5	2–3	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	1–0	1–3	0–0
Template:Flagicon Stefan Edberg	1983–1990	15	5–10	Template:Tennis win percentage	3–1	0–2	2–3	0–4
Template:Flagicon Thomas Muster	1986–1988	3	1–2	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Boris Becker	1985–1990	9	2–7	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–2	0–1	0–1	1–3
Template:Flagicon Ivan Lendl	1986–1989	6	1–5	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–2	0–2	0–0	0–1
Number 2 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Michael Chang	1989	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Goran Ivanišević	1989	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Petr Korda	1988	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Manuel Orantes	1983	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Michael Stich	1990	1	0–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0
Number 3 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Yannick Noah	1985–1989	3	2–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	2–0	0–1	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Vitas Gerulaitis	1984	1	0–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1
Number 4 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Guy Forget	1986–1988	4	4–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	2–0	0–0	0–0	2–0
Template:Flagicon Andrés Gómez	1986–1987	2	2–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0
Template:Flagicon Brad Gilbert	1984–1988	3	2–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–1
Template:Flagicon Pat Cash	1987	2	1–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–1
Template:Flagicon José Luis Clerc	1985	1	0–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0
Number 5 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Jimmy Arias	1987	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Anders Järryd	1983–1987	9	4–5	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	2–3	0–2	2–0
Template:Flagicon Kevin Curren	1987	1	0–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1
Template:Flagicon Henri Leconte	1986	2	0–2	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	0–2	0–0	0–0
Number 6 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Henrik Sundström	1984–1985	2	2–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Kent Carlsson	1984–1987	6	4–2	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	3–2	0–0	0–0
Number 7 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Jay Berger	1988	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Johan Kriek	1987	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0
Template:Flagicon Tim Mayotte	1988	1	1–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Jakob Hlasek	1985–1987	5	4–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–1
Template:Flagicon Joakim Nyström	1984–1986	6	4–2	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–2	1–0	0–0	2–0
Template:Flagicon Emilio Sánchez	1986–1990	6	3–3	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–2	0–1	0–0	3–0
Template:Flagicon Juan Aguilera	1984–1989	3	0–3	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	0–3	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Sandy Mayer	1984	1	0–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Brian Teacher	1984	1	0–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0
Number 8 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Karel Nováček	1986–1987	3	3–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	2–0	0–0	0–0
Number 9 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Bill Scanlon	1986–1987	2	2–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Andrei Chesnokov	1983–1988	2	1–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–0
Number 10 ranked players
Template:Flagicon Mikael Pernfors	1986–1987	3	3–0	Template:Tennis win percentage	1–0	2–0	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Jonas Svensson	1986–1988	6	4–2	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	1–1	0–0	3–1
Template:Flagicon Martín Jaite	1983–1987	5	3–2	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	3–2	0–0	0–0
Template:Flagicon Thierry Tulasne	1985–1989	4	2–2	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	1–2	0–0	1–0
Template:Flagicon Wojciech Fibak	1986	1	0–1	Template:Tennis win percentage	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1
Total	1983–1990	149	81–68	Template:Tennis win percentage	25–13 (Template:Tennis win percentage)	28–28 (Template:Tennis win percentage)	5–8 (Template:Tennis win percentage)	23–19 (Template:Tennis win percentage)

External links

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• Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Davis CupTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Template:Olympics.com
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