Richard Krajicek
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| Country |  Netherlands |
|
| Residence | Muiderberg, Netherlands | |
| Date of birth | December 6, 1971 | |
| Place of birth | Rotterdam, Netherlands | |
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | |
| Weight | 89 kg (200 lb/14.0 st) | |
| Turned pro | 1989 | |
| Retired | 2003 | |
| Plays | Right-handed | |
| Career prize money | $10,077,425 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 411–219 | |
| Career titles: | 17 | |
| Highest ranking: | #4 (March 29, 1999) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | SF (1992) | |
| French Open | SF (1993) | |
| Wimbledon | W (1996) | |
| US Open | QF (1997, 1999, 2000) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 77–60 | |
| Career titles: | 3 | |
| Highest ranking: | #45 (July 26, 1993) | |
Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek (born December 6, 1971) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. In 1996 he won the men's singles title at Wimbledon. Since 2004 he has been the tournament director of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. He is also the author of various sportsbooks.
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[edit] Personal life
Richard Krajicek was born on December 6, 1971 in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. He is the son of Czech immigrants.
His half sister Michaëlla Krajicek is also a professional tennis player.
In 1999, Krajicek married model, actress and writer Daphne Deckers.
[edit] Career
Richard Krajicek began playing tennis at the age of four. As a youngster he won the Dutch 12-under and 14-under National Championships twice each. He turned professional in 1989, and in 1991 won his first top-level singles title at Hong Kong, and his first tour doubles title in Hilversum.
In 1992, the 6ft 5 inch Dutchman reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open, but then had to withdraw from his semi-final match due to a shoulder injury. The following year, he reached the semi-finals at the French Open where he lost in four sets to the defending champion Jim Courier. Further 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." [1] Krajicek later showed remorse for the comment. [2]
Coming into Wimbledon in 1996, Krajicek had never previously progressed beyond the fourth round, and had lost in the first round in the two previous years. He was a player with undoubted potential, but was not considered to be one of the strongest contenders to win 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 two) Thomas Muster pulled out shortly before the tournament due to injury, Krajicek was given Muster's place in the draw.
He beat former champion Michael Stich in the fourth round, and then met Sampras in the quarter-finals. Krajicek shocked the tennis world by defeating Sampras in straight sets 7–5, 7–6(3), 6–4, becoming the only player to beat Sampras in a Wimbledon singles match in the eight-year period from 1993-2000. He then 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 6–3, 6–4, 6–3 to become the first Dutchman to win Wimbledon.
Krajicek's victory over Sampras proved to be no fluke. He amassed a 6–4 record against the American player. [3]
In 1998, Krajicek was in the Wimbledon semi-finals again, where he lost to Goran Ivanišević in a marathon match 6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 6–7, 15-13. His final attempt at winning a second Wimbledon title was in 2002, when he lost in the quarter-finals to Xavier Malisse. 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 number 4 in 1999.
Since retiring from the ATP circuit, Krajicek runs The Richard Krajicek Foundation which builds sports facilities for children in Holland's inner-city areas.[4] 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').
[edit] Career statistics
[edit] Grand Slam finals
[edit] Singles
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1996 | Wimbledon |  MaliVai Washington |
6–3, 6–4, 6–3 |
[edit] Grand Slam singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | Career SR | Career win-loss | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | 2R | - | - | 2R | 3R | - | - | 3R | 2R | - | 2R | SF | 4R | 0 / 8 | 15-8 | 65.2% |
| French Open | - | - | - | 3R | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | 2R | 3R | SF | 3R | 2R | 0 / 10 | 22-10 | 68.8% |
| Wimbledon | - | QF | - | 2R | 3R | SF | 4R | W | 1R | 1R | 4R | 3R | 3R | 1 / 11 | 25-10 | 71.4% |
| US Open | - | 1R | - | QF | QF | 3R | QF | 1R | 3R | 2R | 4R | 4R | 1R | 0 / 11 | 23-11 | 67.6% |
[edit] Masters Series finals
[edit] Singles
[edit] Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1998 | Stuttgart |  Yevgeny Kafelnikov |
6–4, 6–3, 6–3 |
| 1999 | Key Biscane |  Sébastien Grosjean |
4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5 |
[edit] Runner-ups (4)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1996 | Rome |  Thomas Muster |
6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 |
| 1997 | Stuttgart |  Petr Korda |
7–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
| 1998 | Toronto |  Patrick Rafter |
7–6, 6–4 |
| 1999 | Stuttgart |  Thomas Enqvist |
6–1, 6–4, 5–7, 7–5 |
[edit] Career finals
[edit] Singles
[edit] Wins (17)
|
|
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1. | 8 April 1991 | Hong Kong | Hard | Wally Masur |
6–2, 3–6, 6–3 |
| 2. | 10 August 1992 | Los Angeles | Hard | Mark Woodforde |
6–4, 2–6, 6–4 |
| 3. | 16 November 1992 | Antwerp, Belgium | Carpet | Mark Woodforde |
6–2, 6–2 |
| 4. | 9 August 1993 | Los Angeles | Hard | Michael Chang |
0–6, 7–6(3), 7–6(5) |
| 5. | 11 April 1994 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay |  Carlos Costa |
6–4, 7–6(6), 6–2 |
| 6. | 13 June 1994 | Rosmalen, Netherlands | Grass |  Karsten Braasch |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 7. | 10 October 1994 | Sydney Indoor, Australia | Hard (i) | Boris Becker |
7–6(5), 7–6(7), 2–6, 6–3 |
| 8. | 27 February 1995 | Stuttgart, Germany | Carpet (i) | Michael Stich |
7–6(4), 6–3, 6–7(6), 1–6, 6–3 |
| 9. | 6 March 1995 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Carpet | Paul Haarhuis |
7–6(5), 6–4 |
| 10. | 8 July 1996 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | MaliVai Washington |
6–3, 6–4, 6–3 |
| 11. | 10 March 1997 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Carpet | Daniel Vacek |
7–6(4), 7–6(5) |
| 12. | 21 April 1997 | Tokyo | Hard | Lionel Roux |
6–2, 3–6, 6–1 |
| 13. | 23 June 1997 | Rosmalen, Netherlands | Grass | Guillaume Raoux |
6–4, 7–6(7) |
| 14. | 16 February 1998 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Carpet (i) |  Marc Rosset |
6–4, 7–6(5) |
| 15. | 2 November 1998 | Stuttgart, Germany | Hard (i) | Yevgeny Kafelnikov |
6–4, 6–3, 6–3 |
| 16. | 1 March 1999 | London | Carpet |  Greg Rusedski |
7–6(6), 6–7(5), 7–5 |
| 17. | 29 March 1999 | Miami, U.S. | Hard | Sébastien Grosjean |
4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5 |
[edit] Runner-ups (9)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 13 April 1992 | Tokyo Outdoor | Hard | Jim Courier |
6–4, 6–4, 7–6(3) |
| 2. | 22 February 1993 | Stuttgart Indoor, Germany | Carpet | Michael Stich |
4–6, 7–5, 7–6(4), 3–6, 7–5 |
| 3. | 21 August 1995 | New Haven, U.S. | Hard | Andre Agassi |
3–6, 7–6(2), 6–3 |
| 4. | 20 May 1996 | Rome, Italy | Clay | Thomas Muster |
6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 |
| 5. | 5 August 1996 | Los Angeles | Hard | Michael Chang |
6–4, 6–3 |
| 6. | 27 October 1997 | Stuttgart Indoor, Germany | Carpet | Petr Korda |
7–6(6), 6–2, 6–4 |
| 7. | 10 August 1998 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | Patrick Rafter |
7–6(3), 6–4 |
| 8. | 1 November 1999 | Stuttgart Indoor, Germany | Carpet | Thomas Enqvist |
6–1, 6–4, 5–7, 7–5 |
| 9. | 19 June 2000 | Halle, Germany | Grass | David Prinosil |
6–3, 6–2 |
[edit] Bibliography
List of books written by Richard Krajicek:[1]
- Een half jaar netpost (2003) with Tino Bakker
- Naar de top (2005)
- Harde ballen (2005)
- Honger naar de bal (2006)
- Alle ballen verzamelen (2007)
[edit] References
- ^ Richard Krajicek. www.nl.bol.com. bol.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
[edit] External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Danny Nelissen |
Dutch Sportsman of the Year 1996 |
Succeeded by Marcel Wouda |
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