Richard Krajicek

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox tennis biography

Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek (Template:Langx; born 6 December 1971) is a Dutch former professional tennis player and tournament director. Krajicek won 17 singles titles during his career, including the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first (and only) Dutchman to win a major singles title. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in March 1999. Retiring from the sport in 2003, Krajicek has been the tournament director of the Rotterdam Open since 2004. He is also the author of various sports books.

Personal life

Richard Krajicek is the son of Czech immigrants and grew up in The Hague. In primary school, he was in the same class as later professional road bicyle racer Michael Boogerd.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the nineties Krajicek had a relationship with Italian actress and model Lory Del Santo,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with whom he had a son who was born prematurely and died of an infection after two weeks of life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1999, he married model, writer and hostess of Holland's Next Top Model and Benelux's Next Top Model, Daphne Deckers, with whom he lives in Muiderberg and has two children (a son and a daughter).<ref>Alec Deckers over achternaam: ’Ze dachten ons meer anonimiteit te geven...’ – website of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf</ref> Nicknamed "de Kraai" (Dutch for "the crow") in his home country, one of Krajicek's siblings is Michaëlla Krajicek, a half-sister and fellow tennis professional. A distant cousin of his is another tennis player, the American Austin Krajicek.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Krajicek is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), a political party in the Netherlands.<ref>Template:In lang Krajicek schrijft mee aan VVD-verkiezingsprogramma Template:Webarchive, Elsevier, 17 November 2012</ref>

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 Template:Convert Dutchman reached his first Grand Slam semi-finals at the Australian Open. He had to withdraw from this semi-final match due to a shoulder injury. The next year, he reached the semi-finals 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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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 No. 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 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's fourth-round loss to Roger Federer in 2001. 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, losing to Goran Ivanišević in a marathon match, 13–15 in the fifth set, with both players serving a combined 38 aces.<ref>sportsillustrated.cnn.com Template:Bare URL inline</ref><ref>sportsillustrated.cnn.com Template:Bare URL inline</ref> His final attempt at a 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 US Open, Krajicek lost a quarterfinal matchup to Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Despite the loss, he set several most aces records that day. In the 2000 U.S. Open, Krajicek met Sampras in the quarterfinals, winning the first set and going up 6–2 during the second-set tiebreaker, but then losing six straight points and the match.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2000, Krajicek was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award for his efforts to help youth in his home country.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was named ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Krajicek retired from the professional tour in 2003. During his career, he won 17 singles titles and three 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Since retiring from the ATP Tour, Krajicek runs The Richard Krajicek Foundation, which builds sports facilities for children in inner-city areas in the Netherlands.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2004, Krajicek became the tournament director of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

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

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1996	Wimbledon	Grass	Template:Flagicon MaliVai Washington	6–3, 6–4, 6–3

Masters Series finals

Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runners-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1996	Rome	Clay	Template:Flagicon Thomas Muster	2–6, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss	1997	Stuttgart	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Petr Korda	6–7^(6–8), 2–6, 4–6
Loss	1998	Canada (Toronto)	Hard	Template:Flagicon Patrick Rafter	6–7^(3–7), 4–6
Win	1998	Stuttgart	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Win	1999	Key Biscayne	Hard	Template:Flagicon Sébastien Grosjean	4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5
Loss	1999	Stuttgart	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Thomas Enqvist	1–6, 4–6, 7–5, 5–7

Career finals

Singles: 26 (17 titles, 9 runners-up)

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)

Finals by surface
Hard (7–5)
Clay (1–1)
Grass (3–1)
Carpet (6–2)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Category	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Apr 1991	Hong Kong, UK	World Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Wally Masur	6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Loss	1–1	Apr 1992	Tokyo, Japan	Championships Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Jim Courier	4–6, 4–6, 6–7^(3–7)
Win	2–1	Aug 1992	Los Angeles, U.S.	World Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Mark Woodforde	6–4, 2–6, 6–4
Win	3–1	Nov 1992	Antwerp, Belgium	World Series	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Mark Woodforde	6–2, 6–2
Loss	3–2	Feb 1993	Stuttgart, Germany	Championships Series	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Michael Stich	6–4, 5–7, 6–7^(4–7), 6–3, 5–7
Win	4–2	Aug 1993	Los Angeles, U.S.	World Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Michael Chang	0–6, 7–6^(7–3), 7–6^(7–5)
Win	5–2	Apr 1994	Barcelona, Spain	Championships Series	Clay	Template:Flagicon Carlos Costa	6–4, 7–6^(8–6), 6–2
Win	6–2	Jun 1994	Rosmalen, Netherlands	World Series	Grass	Template:Flagicon Karsten Braasch	6–3, 6–4
Win	7–2	Oct 1994	Sydney, Australia	Championships Series	Hard (i)	Template:Flagicon Boris Becker	7–6^(7–5), 7–6^(9–7), 2–6, 6–3
Win	8–2	Feb 1995	Stuttgart, Germany	Championships Series	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Michael Stich	7–6^(7–4), 6–3, 6–7^(6–8), 1–6, 6–3
Win	9–2	Mar 1995	Rotterdam, Netherlands	World Series	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Paul Haarhuis	7–6^(7–5), 6–4
Loss	9–3	Aug 1995	New Haven, U.S.	Championships Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Andre Agassi	6–3, 6–7^(2–7), 3–6
Loss	9–4	May 1996	Rome, Italy	Super 9	Clay	Template:Flagicon Thomas Muster	2–6, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	10–4	Jul 1996	Wimbledon, UK	Grand Slam	Grass	Template:Flagicon MaliVai Washington	6–3, 6–4, 6–3
Loss	10–5	Aug 1996	Los Angeles, U.S.	World Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Michael Chang	4–6, 3–6
Win	11–5	Mar 1997	Rotterdam, Netherlands	World Series	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Daniel Vacek	7–6^(7–4), 7–6^(7–5)
Win	12–5	Apr 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Championships Series	Hard	Template:Flagicon Lionel Roux	6–2, 3–6, 6–1
Win	13–5	Jun 1997	Rosmalen, Netherlands	World Series	Grass	Template:Flagicon Guillaume Raoux	6–4, 7–6^(9–7)
Loss	13–6	Oct 1997	Stuttgart, Germany	Super 9	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Petr Korda	6–7^(6–8), 2–6, 4–6
Win	14–6	Feb 1998	St. Petersburg, Russia	World Series	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Marc Rosset	6–4, 7–6^(7–5)
Loss	14–7	Aug 1998	Toronto, Canada	Super 9	Hard	Template:Flagicon Patrick Rafter	6–7^(3–7), 4–6
Win	15–7	Nov 1998	Stuttgart, Germany	Super 9	Hard (i)	Template:Flagicon Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Win	16–7	Mar 1999	London, UK	Championships Series	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Greg Rusedski	7–6^(8–6), 6–7^(5–7), 7–5
Win	17–7	Mar 1999	Miami, U.S.	Super 9	Hard	Template:Flagicon Sébastien Grosjean	4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5
Loss	17–8	Nov 1999	Stuttgart, Germany	Super 9	Hard (i)	Template:Flagicon Thomas Enqvist	1–6, 4–6, 7–5, 5–7
Loss	17–9	Jun 2000	Halle, Germany	International Series	Grass	Template:Flagicon David Prinosil	3–6, 2–6

Performance timelines

Template:Performance key 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
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

Season	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	Total
Wins	0	0	1	10	4	4	5	3	4	8	3	2	0	0	0	44

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