Željko Krajan

Željko Krajan (Croatian pronunciation: [ʒêːʎko ˈkrajan];;[1] born 3 February 1979) is a Croatian tennis coach and former professional player.

Željko Krajan
Country (sports) Croatia
ResidenceVaraždin, Croatia
Born (1979-02-03) 3 February 1979
Varaždin, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Turned pro1997
PlaysRight-handed
Prize money$284,128
Singles
Career record9–28 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 88 (19 August 2002)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open1R (2003)
French Open1R (2003)
Wimbledon1R (2003)
US OpenQ2 (2003)
Doubles
Career record0–2 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 371 (0 November 1998)

Playing career

Krajan, a native of Varaždin, began playing tennis at age six.[2] His greatest success as a junior player was winning the Orange Bowl doubles tournament with Ivan Ljubičić in 1995.[3]

Krajan started his pro career at the ATP Tour in 1997.[2] His highest ATP ranking was No. 88 in August 2002.[2] In 2003 Krajan was sidelined following a shoulder surgery.[4] In 2004 he suffered a serious quadriceps tear, which ultimately caused his retirement from professional tennis in 2005.[4]

Coaching career

From 2005 on, Krajan turned to coaching, at first working with Saša Tuksar, a young Croatian tennis player, and then with German junior players as Heinz Günthardt's assistant coach.[4][5] In 2006 and 2007 he played in the German Regionalliga Süd-Ost for TC Ismaning. In October 2007, upon recommendation by Ivan Ljubičić, he became the coach of Dinara Safina,[4][6] who was at the time at a psychological low point of her career, ranked No. 17 in the world, and close to retiring from tennis.[5][7] Under Krajan's lead, Safina scored good results in the early 2008 season and placed runner-up in the 2008 French Open. After the 2008 French Open, Krajan was joined by Dejan Vojnović, retired Croatian Olympic sprinter, who became Safina's fitness coach.[8] Her continued string of good results earned her the 2008 WTA Most Improved Player award, and the World No. 1 spot in April 2009.[9] Safina described Krajan as "totally different from any other tennis coach" due to his patience and positive approach, as opposed to being preoccupied with correcting flaws in one's game.[7][10]

Safina and Krajan parted ways in May 2010.[11] In June of the same year Krajan started coaching Dominika Cibulková.[12] Krajan ceased working with Cibulkova in April 2012.[13] In January 2012 Krajan took over coaching of the Croatian Davis Cup team.[14] From April to June 2012 Krajan worked with Jelena Janković on trial basis.[15] In August 2012 Krajan began coaching Laura Robson, until they parted ways in May 2013, before the Mutua Madrid Open.[16]

Since May 2013, he returned to work in the ATP, coaching Former World No. 8 and Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis.[17]

In November 2014, Borna Ćorić decided to take Krajan as his new coach.[18]

In April 2015, he left Ćorić and has quit being his coach to spend more time with his family.

On 25 November 2018, he won the Davis Cup with the national team.

On 9 November 2019, just nine days before the Davis Cup, he parted ways with the national team.[19]

References
  1. "žèljeti". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2018-03-17. Žȇljko
  2. Željko Krajan at the Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved on June 9, 2008
  3. "Matea Mezak nova nada hrvatskog tenisa" (PDF). Vjesnik (in Croatian). December 30, 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2002. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
  4. "Rad sa Safinom pravi je užitak" (in Croatian). April 22, 2008. Archived from the original on May 2, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
  5. Sinovčić, Dean (April 21, 2009). "Varaždinac doveo Safinu do vrha" [Native of Varaždin leads Safina to the top] (in Croatian). Nacional. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
  6. Gabrovec, Gordan (June 8, 2008). "Dinara igra kao muškarac". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved September 18, 2009.
  7. "Safina: Krajan mi je možda i spasio karijeru!". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). September 30, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
  8. Bilić, Marko (June 21, 2008). "Najbrži Hrvat uzima Dinaru Safinu pod svoje". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). Retrieved August 29, 2008.
  9. "Dinara Safina info". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  10. "Kako je Željko Krajan od Safine napravio svjetski broj 1?". Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). June 5, 2009. Archived from the original on June 8, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2009.
  11. "Dinara Safina Breaks Up With Coach Zeljko Krajan". gototennis.com. May 23, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  12. "Safina's ex-coach Krajan signs with Cibulkova". tennis.com. June 14, 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  13. "Cibulkova splits from coach Zeljko Krajan". tennis.com. April 14, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
  14. "Željko Krajan potvrđen kao izbornik hrvatske Davis cup reprezentacije". Index.hr (in Croatian). March 3, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  15. "Jankovic hires Zeljko Krajan on trial basis". tennis.com. April 16, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  16. "Laura Robson splits from coach Zeljko Krajan after nine months". BBC. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  17. http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/05/20/Coaching-Change-Baghdatis.aspx
  18. http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/zeljko-krajan-novi-trener-borne-corica--novi-hrvatski-tandem-za-uspon-prema-teniskom-vrhu/1233355/
  19. "Potres uoči Davis Cupa: Željko Krajan više nije izbornik hrvatske reprezentacije". gol.dnevnik.hr. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
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