Richard Krajicek

Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek (Czech: Krajíček, born 6 December 1971) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. In 1996 he won the men's singles title at Wimbledon and is the only Dutch player to have won a Grand Slam tournament. In the quarterfinals of that tournament, he defeated Pete Sampras in straight sets. 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.

Richard Krajicek
Country (sports) Netherlands
ResidenceMuiderberg, Netherlands
Born (1971-12-06) 6 December 1971
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro1989
Retired2003
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$10,077,425
Singles
Career record411–219 (ATP, Grand Prix and Grand Slams, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles17
Highest rankingNo. 4 (29 March 1999)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenSF (1992)
French OpenSF (1993)
WimbledonW (1996)
US OpenQF (1997, 1999, 2000)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsSF (1996)
Grand Slam CupQF (1992, 1996)
Doubles
Career record77–60 (ATP, Grand Prix and Grand Slams, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 45 (26 July 1993)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenSF (1992)
French Open3R (1991)
Wimbledon2R (1991)
US Open1R (1995)

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. His distant cousin is Austin Krajicek.[1] He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).[2]

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. His biggest achievement as a youngster was winning the Wiltshire Open in the UK after beating Steven White in straight sets in the final. He turned professional in 1989, and in 1991 won his first top-level singles title in Hong Kong and his first tour doubles title at the Dutch Open.

In 1992, the 1.95 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."[3]

At the 1996 Italian Open, Krajicek reached the final, before losing in four sets to the reigning champion, Thomas Muster. At the French Open later that year, Krajicek was the only player to take a set off the eventual champion, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, during their quarterfinal 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 quarterfinals. By that time, he had managed to turn his notably weak slice backhand into an aggressive top-spin shot. Krajicek defeated 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 semifinals, 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 semifinals 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. His final attempt at winning a second Wimbledon title was in 2002, when he lost in the quarterfinals to Xavier Malisse. Krajicek beat world no. 5 Andre Agassi, world no. 1 Sampras and world no. 9 Yevgeny Kafelnikov on his way to the Stuttgart Masters title in November.

At the 1999 U.S. Open, Krajicek lost a quarterfinal 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 quarterfinals, winning the first set and being up 6–2 during the second-set tiebreaker, but then losing six straight points and going on to lose the match.[4] In 2000, Krajicek was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award for his efforts to help youth in his home country.[5] He was named ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 2002.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8] 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

Singles: 1 (1–0)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win1996WimbledonGrass MaliVai Washington6–3, 6–4, 6–3

Singles: 6 (2–4)
Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss1996RomeClay Thomas Muster2–6, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss1997StuttgartCarpet Petr Korda6–7(6–8), 2–6, 4–6
Loss1998Canada (Toronto)Hard Patrick Rafter6–7(3–7), 4–6
Win1998StuttgartCarpet Yevgeny Kafelnikov6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Win1999Key BiscayneHard Sébastien Grosjean4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5
Loss1999StuttgartCarpet Thomas Enqvist1–6, 4–6, 7–5, 5–7

Career finals

Singles: 26 (17–9)
Legend
Grand Slam (1–0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Super 9 (2–4)
ATP Championship Series (5–3)
ATP World Series (9–2)
Titles by surface
Hard (7–5)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (3–1)
Carpet (6–2)
Result No. Date Tournament Category Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. Apr 1991 Hong Kong, UK World Series Hard Wally Masur 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Loss 1. Apr 1992 Tokyo, Japan Championships Series Hard Jim Courier 4–6, 4–6, 6–7(3–7)
Win 2. Aug 1992 Los Angeles, USA World Series Hard Mark Woodforde 6–4, 2–6, 6–4
Win 3. Nov 1992 Antwerp, Belgium World Series Carpet (i) Mark Woodforde 6–2, 6–2
Loss 2. Feb 1993 Stuttgart, Germany Championships Series Carpet (i) Michael Stich 6–4, 5–7, 6–7(4–7), 6–3, 5–7
Win 4. Aug 1993 Los Angeles, U.S. World Series Hard Michael Chang 0–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–5)
Win 5. Apr 1994 Barcelona, Spain Championships Series Clay Carlos Costa 6–4, 7–6(8–6), 6–2
Win 6. Jun 1994 Rosmalen, Netherlands World Series Grass Karsten Braasch 6–3, 6–4
Win 7. Oct 1994 Sydney, Australia Championships Series Hard (i) Boris Becker 7–6(7–5), 7–6(9–7), 2–6, 6–3
Win 8. Feb 1995 Stuttgart, Germany Championships Series Carpet (i) Michael Stich 7–6(7–4), 6–3, 6–7(6–8), 1–6, 6–3
Win 9. Mar 1995 Rotterdam, Netherlands World Series Carpet (i) Paul Haarhuis 7–6(7–5), 6–4
Loss 3. Aug 1995 New Haven, USA Championships Series Hard Andre Agassi 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 3–6
Loss 4. May 1996 Rome, Italy Super 9 Clay Thomas Muster 2–6, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win 10. Jul 1996 Wimbledon, London, UK Grand Slam Grass MaliVai Washington 6–3, 6–4, 6–3
Loss 5. Aug 1996 Los Angeles, U.S. World Series Hard Michael Chang 4–6, 3–6
Win 11. Mar 1997 Rotterdam, Netherlands World Series Carpet (i) Daniel Vacek 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5)
Win 12. Apr 1997 Tokyo, Japan Championships Series Hard Lionel Roux 6–2, 3–6, 6–1
Win 13. Jun 1997 Rosmalen, Netherlands World Series Grass Guillaume Raoux 6–4, 7–6(9–7)
Loss 6. Oct 1997 Stuttgart, Germany Super 9 Carpet (i) Petr Korda 6–7(6–8), 2–6, 4–6
Win 14. Feb 1998 St. Petersburg, Russia World Series Carpet (i) Marc Rosset 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Loss 7. Aug 1998 Toronto, Canada Super 9 Hard Patrick Rafter 6–7(3–7), 4–6
Win 15. Nov 1998 Stuttgart, Germany Super 9 Hard (i) Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Win 16. Mar 1999 London, UK Championships Series Carpet (i) Greg Rusedski 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 7–5
Win 17. Mar 1999 Miami, U.S. Super 9 Hard Sébastien Grosjean 4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5
Loss 8. Nov 1999 Stuttgart, Germany Super 9 Hard (i) Thomas Enqvist 1–6, 4–6, 7–5, 5–7
Loss 9. Jun 2000 Halle, Germany International Series Grass David Prinosil 3–6, 2–6

Performance timelines
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

Singles

Tournament198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003Career SRCareer 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
Year-End Championships
Tennis Masters Cup Did Not Qualify RR DNQ SF Did Not Qualify 0 / 2 3–4
Grand Slam Cup NH DNQ QF DNQ 1R DNQ QF Not Held 0 / 3 2–3
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

Top 10 wins
Season198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003Total
Wins001104453483200044
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score KR
1991
1. Stefan Edberg 2 New Haven, United States Hard 3R 4–6, 6–3, 6–3 37
1992
2. Ivan Lendl 5 Sydney, Australia Hard 1R 5–7, 6–3, 6–3 44
3. Michael Stich 5 Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia Hard QF 5–7, 7–6(7–2), 6–7(1–7), 6–4, 6–4 45
4. Goran Ivanišević 7 Indian Wells, United States Hard 2R 6–0, 6–3 27
5. Michael Stich 5 Tokyo, Japan Hard QF 7–6(7–5), 6–4 30
6. Stefan Edberg 1 Tokyo, Japan Hard SF 6–3, 7–5 30
7. Goran Ivanišević 8 Hamburg, Germany Clay 3R 7–5, 6–2 16
8. Ivan Lendl 9 Sydney, Australia Hard (i) QF 7–6(7–1), 7–5 15
9. Petr Korda 7 Antwerp, Belgium Carpet (i) QF 3–6, 6–1, 7–6(9–7) 13
10. Jim Courier 1 Antwerp, Belgium Carpet (i) SF 4–6, 6–4, 7–5 13
11. Michael Chang 5 ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany Carpet (i) RR 2–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–4) 10
1993
12. Sergi Bruguera 10 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) 1R 6–2, 6–3 13
13. Andre Agassi 8 Miami, United States Hard 4R 6–2, 7–5 11
14. Pete Sampras 1 Los Angeles, United States Hard SF 6–4, 3–6, 7–6(7–3) 10
15. Michael Chang 9 Los Angeles, United States Hard F 0–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–5) 10
1994
16. Sergi Bruguera 4 Barcelona, Spain Clay QF 7–5, 6–3 24
17. Thomas Muster 10 Hamburg, Germany Clay 3R 6–4, 6–4 20
18. Pete Sampras 1 Davis Cup, Rotterdam, Netherlands Hard RR 2–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–5), 7–5 26
19. Boris Becker 7 Sydney, Australia Hard (i) F 7–6(7–5), 7–6(9–7), 2–6, 6–3 32
1995
20. Wayne Ferreira 10 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) 2R 6–3, 7–6(7–0) 16
21. Michael Stich 9 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) F 7–6(7–4), 6–3, 6–7(6–8), 1–6, 6–3 16
22. Boris Becker 4 New Haven, United States Hard QF 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 7–6(7–5) 14
23. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6 New Haven, United States Hard SF 6–4, 6–4 14
24. Boris Becker 4 Essen, Germany Carpet (i) 3R 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 6–3 15
1996
25. Pete Sampras 1 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grass QF 7–5, 7–6(7–3), 6–4 13
26. Michael Chang 2 ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany Carpet (i) RR 6–4, 6–4 8
27. Thomas Muster 5 ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany Carpet (i) RR 7–6(7–4), 6–7(5–7), 6–3 8
1997
28. Thomas Enqvist 8 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) SF 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–4 7
29. Michael Chang 2 Rosmalen, Netherlands Grass SF 6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–4 6
30. Pete Sampras 1 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) 3R 6–4, 6–4 15
31. Pat Rafter 3 Paris, France Carpet (i) 3R 7–5, 6–2 11
1998
32. Greg Rusedski 6 Rotterdam, Netherlands Carpet (i) QF 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–3) 10
33. Petr Korda 3 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay QF 4–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–1 13
34. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6 Rome, Italy Clay 3R 6–2, 3–6, 7–6(8–6) 11
35. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 8 Toronto, Canada Hard QF 6–4, 6–4 9
36. Tim Henman 10 New Haven, United States Hard QF 5–7, 6–2, 7–6(18–16) 6
37. Andre Agassi 5 Stuttgart, Germany Hard (i) 3R 6–3, 6–4 11
38. Pete Sampras 1 Stuttgart, Germany Hard (i) SF 6–7(2–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–5) 11
39. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 8 Stuttgart, Germany Hard (i) F 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 11
1999
40. Greg Rusedski 10 London, United Kingdom Carpet (i) F 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 7–5 9
41. Pete Sampras 2 Miami, United States Hard QF 6–2, 7–6(8–6) 7
42. Greg Rusedski 6 Stuttgart, Germany Hard (i) SF 6–4, 6–4 8
2000
43. Thomas Enqvist 9 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay 2R 7–5, 6–1 43
44. Magnus Norman 3 Toronto, Canada Hard 1R 7–5, 7–6(9–7) 24

Bibliography

List of books written by Richard Krajicek:[9]

  • 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. "NCAA champs storm E'ville Futures event". The Edwardsville Intelligencer. 11 August 2011.
  2. (in Dutch) Krajicek schrijft mee aan VVD-verkiezingsprogramma Archived 8 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Elsevier, 17 November 2012
  3. Mcginty, Stephen (10 January 2006). "Crowd's racket over Murray's 'sexist' quip". The Scotsman. Edinburgh.
  4. Roberts, Selena (7 September 2000). "U.S. OPEN; Sampras Awakes To Stop Krajicek". The New York Times.
  5. "Award seals Kuerten's dream year". BBC News. 11 March 2001. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  6. Richard Krajicek. "Tennis – CBSSports.com Scoreboard, Schedules, Players". Sportsline.com. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  7. "Players – Head to Head". www.atpworldtour.com. ATP.
  8. "Q&A: Richard Krajicek". BBC News. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  9. "Richard Krajicek". bol.com. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Danny Nelissen		 Dutch Sportsman of the Year
1996		 Succeeded by
Marcel Wouda
Preceded by
Mac Winker		 ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year
2000		 Succeeded by
Andre Agassi
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