2 Responses to hamburg85mecir_wilander

1. Voo de Mar says:

   February 19, 2024 at 7:10 pm

   Points won by each set: | 31-18, 30-16 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   8 % Mecir – 3 of 37
   10 % Wilander – 6 of 58

   The first meeting between these two 21-year-old players (they had met twice as juniors, Wilander won both matches), and very telling about the rest of their confrontations. Even though Wilander enjoyed a much successful career, he lost the rivalry against Mecir 4-7 (# including ECC Antwerp 4-8). Generally speaking, Wilander was able to outplay the majority of baseliners with his consistency & patience while facing serve-and-volleyers he could accelerate his shots to be efficient with returns and passing-shots. Regardless of the surface, the problem was that Mecir had the same tactical attitude, and his groundstrokes were more fluid, moreover he possessed bigger versality in his shots. Therefore, in order to beat Mecir, Wilander needed to serve very well, and count on a worse day of his more gifted, yet less consistent peer… On that cloudy day in Hamburg, Mecir [27] appeared in a pullover, and on an exceptionally slow surface, he was playing flawless tennis for an hour, already leading 5:0* in the 2nd set. In the opener Wilander was outplayed from the back of the court, so he began attacking the net in the 2nd set, in vain.

   Serve & volley: Mecir 0, Wilander 1/4

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   February 19, 2024 at 7:14 pm

   # Five matches when Mecir destroyed three months younger Wilander:

   Hamburg ’85 (SF, clay): 6-1, 6-2
   Milan ’87 (SF, carpet): 6-0, 6-2
   Dallas ’87 (QF, carpet): 6-1, 6-1, 6-3
   ECC Antwerp ’87 (SF, carpet): 6-1, 6-3
   Wimbledon ’88 (QF, grass): 6-3, 6-1, 6-3
   

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