Miloslav Mečíř
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| Country |  Slovakia |
|
| Residence | Prague, Czech Republic | |
| Date of birth | May 19, 1964 | |
| Place of birth | Bojnice, Slovak Republic | |
| Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |
| Weight | 81 kg (180 lbs) | |
| Turned Pro | 1982 | |
| Retired | 1990 | |
| Plays | Right-handed | |
| Career Prize Money | US$ 2,632,538 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 262 - 122 | |
| Career titles: | 11 | |
| Highest ranking: | 4 (February 22, 1988) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | RU (1989) | |
| French Open | SF (1987) | |
| Wimbledon | SF (1988) | |
| U.S. Open | RU (1986) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 100 - 54 | |
| Career titles: | 9 | |
| Highest ranking: | 4 (March 7, 1988) | |
|
Infobox last updated on: February 21, 2007. |
||
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Tennis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1988 Seoul | Singles | |
| Bronze | 1988 Seoul | Doubles | |
Miloslav Mečíř (IPA: [ˈmɪloslaf ˈmɛtʃi:r̝] (born May 19, 1964) is a former professional tennis player from Slovakia. He is best remembered for having won the men's singles Gold Medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics for the former Czechoslovakia, and for having played in two Grand Slam singles finals.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Mečíř was born in Bojnice, Czechoslovakia.
He won his first top-level singles title in Rotterdam in 1985. He reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open in 1986, where he faced a fellow Czechoslovakian player in the form of defending champion and World No. 1 Ivan Lendl. Lendl won the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-0. This U.S. open is also memorable for the fact that four players from Czechoslovakia competed in the singles finals—Mečíř and Lendl in the men's and Helena Suková and Martina Navrátilová in the women's.
Mečíř had a very strong year in 1987, when he won six singles and six doubles titles. He met Lendl again in three high-profile matches that year. Mecír defeated Lendl in the final of the Lipton International Players Championships in Key Biscayne, Florida, while Lendl won their matches in the final of the German Open in Hamburg and the semi-finals of the French Open.
The highlight of Mečíř's career came in 1988 when he was selected to represent Czechoslovakia in the Seoul Olympics. In the men's singles semi-finals he beat the reigning Wimbledon champion, Stefan Edberg of Sweden, in an exciting five-set match 3-6, 6-0, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. He then met Tim Mayotte of the USA 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.
Mečíř was also a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 1988 (in the quarter-finals, he handed Mats Wilander his only Grand Slam singles defeat of the year as Wilander won the 1988 Australian Open, French Open and US Open.)
In 1989, Mečíř reached his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open. Again he came up against Lendl and lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. (The win allowed Lendl to reclaim the World No. 1 ranking from Wilander.)
Mečíř was a member of the Czechoslovakian teams which 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 9 doubles titles. His career-high world ranking in both singles and doubles was World No. 4. His total career prize-money earnings was US$2,632,538. His final career singles title came in 1989 at Indian Wells. His last doubles title was also won in 1989 in Rotterdam.
While on tour, Mečíř was called "The Cat" because of his fluid movement and deceptive style of play.
[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Wins (0)
[edit] Runner-ups (2)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1986 | U.S. Open |  Ivan Lendl |
4-6, 2-6, 0-6 |
| 1989 | Australian Open | Ivan Lendl |
2-6, 2-6, 2-6 |
[edit] Singles titles (11)
|
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | March 18, 1985 | Rotterdam, The Netherlands | Carpet |  Jakob Hlasek |
6-1 6-2 |
| 2. | April 29, 1985 | Hamburg, Germany | Clay |  Henrik Sundstrom |
6-4 6-1 6-4 |
| 3. | April 4, 1986 | Kitzbuhel, Austria | Clay |  Andres Gomez |
6-4 4-6 6-1 2-6 6-3 |
| 4. | August 4, 1986 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard |  Michiel Schapers |
6-2 6-3 6-4 |
| 5. | January 26, 1987 | Sydney, Australia | Hard |  Peter Doohan |
6-2 6-4 |
| 6. | February 23, 1987 | Key Biscayne, United States | Hard | Ivan Lendl |
7-5 6-2 7-5 |
| 7. | April 7, 1987 | Dallas, United States | Carpet |  John McEnroe |
6-0 3-6 6-2 6-2 |
| 8. | July 13, 1987 | Stuttgart, Germany | Clay | Jan Gunnarsson |
6-0 6-2 |
| 9. | July 27, 1987 | Hilversum, The Netherlands | Clay |  Guillermo Perez-Roldan |
6-4 1-6 6-3 6-2 |
| 10. | September 20, 1988 | Seoul Olympic Games | Hard | Tim Mayotte |
3-6 6-2 6-4 6-2 |
| 11. | March 13, 1989 | Indian Wells, United States | Hard |  Yannick Noah |
3-6 2-6 6-1 6-2 6-3 |
[edit] External links
| 1896: John Pius Boland • 1900: Lawrence Doherty • 1904: Beals Wright • 1908: Josiah Ritchie, Arthur Gore (indoors) • 1912: Charles Winslow, André Gobert (indoors) • 1920: Louis Raymond • 1924: Vincent Richards • 1988: Miloslav Mečíř • 1992: Marc Rosset • 1996: Andre Agassi • 2000: Yevgeny Kafelnikov • 2004: Nicolás Massú |
