Tennis : Edberg Rallies to Beat Sweden’s Old Nemesis Mecir in Quarterfinals

At one time, the Swedish tennis contingent may have been tempted to wear T-shirts sporting the face of Miloslav Mecir with a circle around it and a line running through the circle.

But Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Joakim Nystrom and Anders Jarryd didn’t call Mecir a Swede-buster. Their phrase for the enigmatic Czech back then?

“We try not to talk about him, it’s too depressing,” Nystrom told the press at the 1986 U.S. Open.

Here’s why:

--In two years, through last year’s Open, Mecir had won 18 of 21 matches against Team Sweden. And he was 15-8 against the aforementioned four Swedes.

--Mecir hit 75 winners in four sets against Wilander in a fourth-round match at Flushing Meadow. And Nystrom then became an easy quarterfinal victim.

The Swedish brain trust watched the sleepy-looking Mecir float ground strokes here and there--no one knew where his shots were going--straight into the final against Lendl.

Suddenly, though, after Mecir had risen to prominence on the basis of his reputation against the Swedes, the invincibility disappeared.

At Prague, Mecir lost to Kent Carlsson and Edberg in the Davis Cup semifinals last October. And on his way to the Australian Open title, Edberg beat him in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

Edberg is the outstanding example of the turnaround. He had lost to Mecir in their first two meetings, and now has defeated him three straight times.

Again, Mecir started out strong against Edberg before fading Friday in his quarterfinal match here at the Pilot Pen tournament.

Edberg, who is top-seeded, defeated the seventh-seeded Mecir, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, in a two-hour match.

It might seem that the Swedes had finally developed a way to beat Mecir, but Edberg said it wasn’t that simple.

“It’s hard to say,” he said. “He’s a very unusual player; he’s got an unusual game. He’s had an easy time to beat a lot of us before. It’s hard to say why the change, but sometimes it goes that way.”

Why is Mecir so difficult to play?

“It’s very hard to see where he hits the ball,” Edberg said. “He’s got a very slow action when he hits the ball, and he holds it in and waits for it to go to one corner and then he hits it in the other. Plus, he moves very well also.”

The Edberg of 1986 probably wouldn’t have prevailed under Friday’s conditions. In the match, he was down a set and a service break against Mecir. “I didn’t know what was wrong,” Edberg said. “I didn’t know if I was playing badly, so it was very hard. He made a lot of first serves and was playing well.

“I got the break back, and I was back into the match. Then I got stronger and stronger.”

Obviously, Edberg’s victories in the Australian Open and last week in Memphis have helped his confidence. Wilander, who plays him today in the semifinals, explained the difference in Edberg.

Wilander, pointing to his head, said: “Here. Psychologically, he knows he’s good now.”

Tournament Notes Boris Becker’s quarterfinal against Emilio Sanchez was a sneak preview of next month’s Davis Cup match featuring West Germany vs. Spain. Sanchez had opportunities to send the match to a third set but squandered them, losing, 6-3, 7-5. Becker had lost to Sanchez last year in the Italian Open, so Friday’s match meant a little more to him. “He’s sometimes a little cocky,” Becker said of Sanchez. “So I have to respond by being a little cockier.” . . . Becker will play third-seeded Yannick Noah of France in the opening semifinal today on the Stadium Court. Noah had a difficult time as he defeated countryman Thierry Tulasne, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4. The two also had a three-set match at last year’s tournament in the semifinals. . . . Fourth-seeded Mats Wilander had the easiest quarterfinal, defeating Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-0. Wilander holds a 6-3 record in head-to-head competition with Edberg. Noah and Becker have played just once, and Noah won, 6-3, 6-3, in 1985. . . . Friday’s paid attendance was 7,840.