Richard Krajicek

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Richard Krajicek
Copa Davis '2004 Espanya-Holanda (R.Krajicek).jpg
Country (sports)  Netherlands
Residence Muiderberg, Netherlands
Born (1971-12-06) 6 December 1971 (age 53)
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro 1989
Retired 2003
Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money $10,077,425
Singles
Career record 411–219 (ATP, Grand Prix and Grand Slams, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles 17
Highest ranking No. 4 (29 March 1999)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open SF (1992)
French Open SF (1993)
Wimbledon W (1996)
US Open QF (1997, 1999, 2000)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals SF (1996)
Doubles
Career record 77–60 (ATP, Grand Prix and Grand Slams, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles 3
Highest ranking No. 45 (26 July 1993)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open SF (1992)
French Open 3R (1991)
Wimbledon 2R (1991)
US Open 1R (1995)

Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek (born 6 December 1971) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. In 1996 he won the men's singles title at Wimbledon, the only Dutch player to have done so. In the quarterfinals of that tournament, he defeated Pete Sampras. This was Sampras' only singles defeat at Wimbledon between 1993 and 2000. Since 2004, Krajicek has been the tournament director of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. He is also the author of various sports books. Krajicek reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 4 in March 1999.

Personal life

Richard Krajicek is the son of Czech immigrants. In 1999, Krajicek married model, writer and hostess of Holland's Next Top Model and Benelux' Next Top Model, Daphne Deckers. Nicknamed "de Kraai" (Dutch for "the crow") in his home country, Krajicek has, among his siblings, half-sister Michaëlla Krajicek who also is a professional tennis player. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).[1]

Career

Richard Krajicek began playing tennis at the age of four. As a youngster he won both the Dutch under-12 and the under-14 National Championships twice. He turned professional in 1989, and in 1991 won his first top-level singles title in Hong Kong and his first tour doubles title in Hilversum.

In 1992, the 1.96 m (6' 5") Dutchman reached his first Grand Slam semifinals at the Australian Open. He had to withdraw from this semifinal match due to a shoulder injury. The following year, he reached the semifinals at the French Open, where he lost in four sets to the defending champion Jim Courier. Also in 1992, Krajicek made a controversial comment regarding equal pay for women in Grand Slam events, saying, "Eighty percent of the top 100 women are fat pigs who don't deserve equal pay." Later, he jokingly clarified his comments, remarking, "What I meant to say was that only 75 percent are fat pigs."[2]

At the 1996 Italian Open, Krajicek reached the final, before losing in four sets to the reigning champion, Thomas Muster. At the 1996 French Open, Krajicek was the only player to take a set off the eventual champion, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, during their quarter-final match.

Coming into 1996 Wimbledon, Krajicek had never previously progressed beyond the fourth round at the tournament and had lost in the first round in the two previous years. He was seen as a player with potential, having one of the fastest serves at the time, but was not considered to be a strong contender for the title. The clear favourite was Pete Sampras, who had won the title for the past three consecutive years. Despite being ranked within the world's top 16, Krajicek just missed out on the seedings for the tournament, but when seventh seed (and world number 2) Thomas Muster pulled out shortly before the tournament due to an injury, Krajicek was declared the 17th seed and moved to Muster's place in the draw. Opinions differ, therefore, on whether or not he won the tournament as an unseeded player.

He beat former champion Michael Stich in the fourth round and met Sampras in the quarter-finals. By that time, he had managed to turn his notably weak slice backhand into an aggressive top-spin shot. Krajicek shocked the tennis world by defeating Sampras in straight sets, becoming the only player to beat Sampras in a Wimbledon singles match in the eight-year period from 1993 until Sampras' fourth-round loss to Roger Federer in the 2001 tournament. Next, he beat Australia's Jason Stoltenberg in the semi-finals, and went on to face American MaliVai Washington in the final. He won the final in straight sets to become the first Dutchman to win Wimbledon.

In 1997, Krajicek's defence of his Wimbledon title ended in the fourth round, when Tim Henman defeated him in four sets.

In 1998, Krajicek was in the Wimbledon semi-finals again, where he lost to Goran Ivanišević in a marathon match, 13-15 in the fifth set, with both players serving a combined 38 aces.[1][2] His final attempt at winning a second Wimbledon title was in 2002, when he lost in the quarter-finals to Xavier Malisse.

At the 1999 U.S. Open, Krajicek lost a quarter-final matchup to Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Despite the loss, Krajicek set several most aces records that day. In the 2000 U.S. Open, Krajicek met Sampras in the quarter-finals, winning the first set and being up 6-2 during the second-set tiebreaker, but then losing six straight points to lose the match. [3] In 2000, Krajicek was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award for his efforts to help youth in his home country.[3] He was named ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 2002.[4]

Krajicek retired from the professional tour in 2003. During his career, he won 17 singles titles and 3 doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 4 in 1999. Krajicek's Wimbledon victory over Sampras proved to be no fluke, since he ended his career with a 6–4 record against the American player.[5]

Since retiring from the ATP circuit, Krajicek runs The Richard Krajicek Foundation, which builds sports facilities for children in inner-city areas in the Netherlands.[6] In 2004, Krajicek became the tournament director of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

In 2005, he published a book on tennis called Fast Balls (Dutch: 'Harde Ballen').

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1996 Wimbledon Grass United States MaliVai Washington 6–3, 6–4, 6–3

Masters Series finals

Singles: 6 (2–4)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1996 Rome Clay Austria Thomas Muster 2–6, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up 1997 Stuttgart Carpet Czech Republic Petr Korda 6–7(6–8), 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up 1998 Canada (Toronto) Hard Australia Patrick Rafter 6–7(3–7), 4–6
Winner 1998 Stuttgart Carpet Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Winner 1999 Key Biscayne Hard France Sébastien Grosjean 4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5
Runner-up 1999 Stuttgart Carpet Sweden Thomas Enqvist 1–6, 4–6, 7–5, 5–7

Career finals

Singles: 26 (17–9)

Wins (17)
Legend
Grand Slam (1–0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (2–4)
ATP Championship Series (5–3)
ATP Tour (9–2)
Titles by surface
Hard (7–5)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (3–1)
Carpet (6–2)
Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 8 April 1991 Hong Kong, UK Hard Australia Wally Masur 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up 1. 13 April 1992 Tokyo, Japan Hard United States Jim Courier 4–6, 4–6, 6–7(3–7)
Winner 2. 10 August 1992 Los Angeles, USA Hard Australia Mark Woodforde 6–4, 2–6, 6–4
Winner 3. 16 November 1992 Antwerp, Belgium Carpet (i) Australia Mark Woodforde 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 2. 22 February 1993 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) Germany Michael Stich 6–4, 5–7, 6–7(4–7), 6–3, 5–7
Winner 4. 9 August 1993 Los Angeles, USA Hard United States Michael Chang 0–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–5)
Winner 5. 11 April 1994 Barcelona, Spain Clay Spain Carlos Costa 6–4, 7–6(8–6), 6–2
Winner 6. 13 June 1994 Rosmalen, Netherlands Grass Germany Karsten Braasch 6–3, 6–4
Winner 7. 10 October 1994 Sydney, Australia Hard (i) Germany Boris Becker 7–6(7–5), 7–6(9–7), 2–6, 6–3
Winner 8. 27 February 1995 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) Germany Michael Stich 7–6(7–4), 6–3, 6–7(6–8), 1–6, 6–3
Winner 9. 6 March 1995 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) Netherlands Paul Haarhuis 7–6(7–5), 6–4
Runner-up 3. 21 August 1995 New Haven, USA Hard United States Andre Agassi 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 3–6
Runner-up 4. 20 May 1996 Rome, Italy Clay Austria Thomas Muster 2–6, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Winner 10. 8 July 1996 Wimbledon, London, UK Grass United States MaliVai Washington 6–3, 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 5. 5 August 1996 Los Angeles, USA Hard United States Michael Chang 4–6, 3–6
Winner 11. 10 March 1997 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) Czech Republic Daniel Vacek 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5)
Winner 12. 21 April 1997 Tokyo, Japan Hard France Lionel Roux 6–2, 3–6, 6–1
Winner 13. 23 June 1997 Rosmalen, Netherlands Grass France Guillaume Raoux 6–4, 7–6(9–7)
Runner-up 6. 27 October 1997 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) Czech Republic Petr Korda 6–7(6–8), 2–6, 4–6
Winner 14. 16 February 1998 St. Petersburg, Russia Carpet (i) Switzerland Marc Rosset 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Runner-up 7. 10 August 1998 Toronto, Canada Hard Australia Patrick Rafter 6–7(3–7), 4–6
Winner 15. 2 November 1998 Stuttgart, Germany Hard (i) Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Winner 16. 1 March 1999 London, UK Carpet (i) United Kingdom Greg Rusedski 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 7–5
Winner 17. 29 March 1999 Miami, USA Hard France Sébastien Grosjean 4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5
Runner-up 8. 1 November 1999 Stuttgart, Germany Hard (i) Sweden Thomas Enqvist 1–6, 4–6, 7–5, 5–7
Runner-up 9. 19 June 2000 Halle, Germany Grass Germany David Prinosil 3–6, 2–6

Performance timelines

Singles

Tournament 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Career SR Career Win-Loss
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A 4R SF 2R A 2R 3R A A 3R 2R A A 2R 0 / 8 16–7
French Open A A 2R 3R SF 3R 2R QF 3R 3R 2R 3R A A A 0 / 10 22–10
Wimbledon A A 3R 3R 4R 1R 1R W 4R SF 3R 2R A QF A 1 / 11 29–10
U.S. Open A A 1R 4R 4R 2R 3R 1R QF 3R QF QF A 1R A 0 / 11 22–11
Grand Slam SR 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 4 1 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 1 1 / 40 N/A
Annual Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 6–4 12–3 12–4 3–3 4–4 13–3 8–3 9–3 9–3 8–4 0–0 4–2 1–1 N/A 89–38
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A 3R A A A A A A QF A A A 1R 0 / 3 4–3
Miami A A 1R QF QF A 2R 4R 4R A W A A A 1R 1 / 8 16–7
Monte Carlo A A A 1R 3R 2R QF 3R QF SF A 3R A A A 0 / 8 15–8
Rome A A 1R 1R 1R 3R A F 2R QF 2R 1R A A A 0 / 9 12–9
Hamburg A A A QF QF QF 3R 3R 2R 3R 2R A A A A 0 / 8 13–8
Montreal/Toronto A A A A A A 2R A QF F 2R 3R A 1R A 0 / 6 9–6
Cincinnati A A A 3R 2R 1R 1R 3R 2R 3R QF 1R A 3R A 0 / 10 9–10
Madrid (Stuttgart) A A A A A 2R QF 3R F W F 2R A A A 1 / 7 17–6
Paris A A 1R 3R 2R 3R QF 2R QF 2R 2R A A A A 0 / 9 6–9
Masters Series SR 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 7 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 7 0 / 7 0 / 8 1 / 7 1 / 8 0 / 5 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 2 2 / 68 N/A
Annual Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 0–3 11–7 7–6 7–6 10–7 13–7 14–8 17–6 15–7 5–5 0–0 2–2 0–2 N/A 101–66
Year End Ranking 392 129 45 10 15 17 11 7 11 10 10 36 – 112 147 N/A

Bibliography

List of books written by Richard Krajicek:[7]

  • Een half jaar netpost (2003) with Tino Bakker
  • Naar de top (2005) with Anja de Crom
  • Harde ballen (2005)
  • Honger naar de bal (2006)
  • Alle ballen verzamelen (2007)

References

  1. ↑ (Dutch) Krajicek schrijft mee aan VVD-verkiezingsprogramma, Elsevier, 17 November 2012
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Dutch Sportsman of the Year
1996		 Succeeded by
Marcel Wouda
Preceded by ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year
2000		 Succeeded by
Andre Agassi

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