Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek (; 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 reached a career high world No. 4 ranking 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. 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.
In the nineties Krajicek had a relationship with Italian actress and model Lory Del Santo, with whom he had a son who was born prematurely and died of an infection after two weeks of life. 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).Alec Deckers over achternaam: ’Ze dachten ons meer anonimiteit te geven...’ – website of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf
Krajicek is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), a political party in the Netherlands. Krajicek schrijft mee aan VVD-verkiezingsprogramma , Elsevier, 17 November 2012
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 tall 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."
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.
Krajicek beat former champion Michael Stich in the fourth round and met Sampras in the quarterfinals. By that time, Krajicek 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. (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.) Next, Krajicek 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. 'It's just really sweet' - Sampras repeats for record-tying 5th Wimbledon title Powerful Pete - Sampras stops Henman, to face Ivanisevic in Wimbledon final 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. In 2000, Krajicek was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award for his efforts to help youth in his home country. He was named ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 2002.
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.
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. 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).
Significant finals
Singles: 1 (1 title) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore Win 1996 Wimbledon Grass MaliVai Washington 6–3, 6–4, 6–3
Masters Series finals
Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runners-up) ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore Loss 1996 Rome Clay Thomas Muster 2–6, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6 Loss 1997 Stuttgart Carpet (i) Petr Korda 6–7(6–8), 2–6, 4–6 Loss 1998 Canada (Toronto) Hard Patrick Rafter 6–7(3–7), 4–6 Win 1998 Stuttgart Carpet (i) Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 Win 1999 Key Biscayne Hard Sébastien Grosjean 4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5 Loss 1999 Stuttgart Carpet (i) 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)
ResultW/L DateTournamentCategorySurfaceOpponentScore Win 1–0 Apr 1991 Hong Kong, UK World Series Hard Wally Masur 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 Loss 1–1 Apr 1992Tokyo, JapanChampionships Series Hard Jim Courier 4–6, 4–6, 6–7(3–7) Win 2–1 Aug 1992 Los Angeles, U.S. World Series Hard Mark Woodforde 6–4, 2–6, 6–4 Win 3–1 Nov 1992 Antwerp, Belgium World Series Carpet (i) Mark Woodforde 6–2, 6–2 Loss 3–2 Feb 1993Stuttgart, GermanyChampionships Series Carpet (i) 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 Michael Chang 0–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–5) Win 5–2 Apr 1994Barcelona, SpainChampionships Series Clay Carlos Costa 6–4, 7–6(8–6), 6–2 Win 6–2 Jun 1994 Rosmalen, Netherlands World Series Grass Karsten Braasch 6–3, 6–4 Win 7–2 Oct 1994Sydney, AustraliaChampionships Series Hard (i) Boris Becker 7–6(7–5), 7–6(9–7), 2–6, 6–3 Win 8–2 Feb 1995Stuttgart, GermanyChampionships Series Carpet (i) 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) Paul Haarhuis 7–6(7–5), 6–4 Loss 9–3 Aug 1995New Haven, U.S.Championships Series Hard Andre Agassi 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 3–6 Loss 9–4 May 1996Rome, ItalySuper 9 Clay Thomas Muster 2–6, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6 Win 10–4 Jul 1996Wimbledon, UKGrand Slam Grass MaliVai Washington 6–3, 6–4, 6–3 Loss 10–5 Aug 1996 Los Angeles, U.S. World Series Hard Michael Chang 4–6, 3–6 Win 11–5 Mar 1997 Rotterdam, Netherlands World Series Carpet (i) Daniel Vacek 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5) Win 12–5 Apr 1997Tokyo, JapanChampionships Series Hard Lionel Roux 6–2, 3–6, 6–1 Win 13–5 Jun 1997 Rosmalen, Netherlands World Series Grass Guillaume Raoux 6–4, 7–6(9–7) Loss 13–6 Oct 1997Stuttgart, GermanySuper 9 Carpet (i) Petr Korda 6–7(6–8), 2–6, 4–6 Win 14–6 Feb 1998 St. Petersburg, Russia World Series Carpet (i) Marc Rosset 6–4, 7–6(7–5) Loss 14–7 Aug 1998Toronto, CanadaSuper 9 Hard Patrick Rafter 6–7(3–7), 4–6 Win 15–7 Nov 1998Stuttgart, GermanySuper 9 Hard (i) Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 Win 16–7 Mar 1999London, UKChampionships Series Carpet (i) Greg Rusedski 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 7–5 Win 17–7 Mar 1999Miami, U.S.Super 9 Hard Sébastien Grosjean 4–6, 6–1, 6–2, 7–5 Loss 17–8 Nov 1999Stuttgart, GermanySuper 9 Hard (i) Thomas Enqvist 1–6, 4–6, 7–5, 5–7 Loss 17–9 Jun 2000 Halle, Germany International Series Grass David Prinosil 3–6, 2–6
Doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (0–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters 1000 Series (1–0)ATP 500 Series (0–0)ATP 250 Series (2–3)Finals by surfaceHard (1–0)Clay (1–2)Grass (1–1)Carpet (0–0)Finals by settingOutdoors (3–3)Indoors (0–0)
ResultW/L DateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Oct 1990 Athens, Greece World Series Clay Tom Kempers Sergio Casal Javier Sánchez 6–4, 6–7, 3–6Loss 0–2 Rosmalen, Netherlands World Series Grass Jan Siemerink Hendrik Jan Davids Paul Haarhuis 3–6, 6–7Win 1–2 Hilversum, Netherlands World Series Clay Jan Siemerink Francisco Clavet Magnus Gustafsson 7–5, 6–4Win 2–2 Miami, United StatesMasters Series Hard Jan Siemerink Patrick McEnroe Jonathan Stark 6–7, 6–4, 7–6Loss 2–3 Mar 1994 Estoril, Portugal World Series Clay Menno Oosting Cristian Brandi Federico Mordegan w/oWin 3–3 Rosmalen, Netherlands World Series Grass Jan Siemerink Hendrik Jan Davids Andrei Olhovskiy 7–5, 6–3
Performance timelines
Singles