The Open Era
Netherlands · born Rotterdam, 1971 · right-handed · Wimbledon champion 1996
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1996
Wimbledon champion as the 17th seed
29
Aces against Pete Sampras, 1996 quarter-final
25
Sampras's Wimbledon winning run he ended
15-13
Fifth set lost to Ivanišević, 1998 semi-final
2
Rosmalen grass titles, 1994 and 1997
Born in Rotterdam in 1971 to Czech parents and raised in The Hague, Krajicek turned professional in 1989 and built his game on a serve delivered from 1.96 m. He won 17 singles titles and reached a career high of world No. 4 in March 1999. His only major title came at Wimbledon in 1996, where he ended Pete Sampras's run of three titles in a row. He reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1998 and, after missing the 2001 season through injury, the quarter-finals in 2002, his last appearance. He retired in 2003. In 1997 he founded the Krajicek Foundation, which builds playgrounds and sports facilities for children in deprived Dutch urban areas, and since 2004 he has been tournament director of the ABN AMRO tournament in Rotterdam.
| Wimbledon singles | Champion 1996; semi-finalist 1998; quarter-finalist 2002; fourth round 1993 and 1997 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1996 | Became the 17th seed when Thomas Muster withdrew. Beat Michael Stich in the fourth round, Pete Sampras 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 in the quarter-final, Jason Stoltenberg in the semi-final and MaliVai Washington 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in the final |
| Other grass titles | Rosmalen 1994 (beat Karsten Braasch 6-3, 6-4) and 1997 (beat Guillaume Raoux 6-4, 7-6). Rosmalen doubles 1995 with Jan Siemerink |
| Grass final lost | Halle 2000, to David Prinosil 3-6, 2-6 |
| Match to remember | Wimbledon 1998 semi-final: lost to Goran Ivanišević 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6, 13-15 in a match of 70 aces |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Men's singles | |
| 's-Hertogenbosch (Rosmalen) | ||
| 1994 | Men's singles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | |
| 1995 | Men's doubles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | with Jan Siemerink |
| 1997 | Men's singles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"On grass every day I felt like I was the worst player."
The person behind the player.
Training
Moving on grass frightened him: he was afraid to slip and fall. On the advice of his physiotherapist he took up karate. "You learn how to fall and roll," he said, and the fear went. It was one of two problems he had with the surface; the other was his rhythm.
Source: Gulf Times (AFP)Before Wimbledon 1996
Every day on grass he felt like the worst player in the world. Then he read that Andre Agassi had hardly practised on grass before winning Wimbledon, and copied him. "After 20, 30 minutes on hard courts, I felt like I'm playing good again." He won the title that summer.
Source: Gulf Times (AFP)Wimbledon 1996 · Seeding
He just missed the seedings. When Thomas Muster, the seventh seed, withdrew injured shortly before the tournament, Krajicek took his place as the highest-ranked unseeded player. The committee later ruled that he had been seeded throughout, so whether he won Wimbledon unseeded is still argued over.
Source: WikipediaWimbledon 1996 · Quarter-final
He led the three-time champion by two sets when rain stopped play, and the match ran into a second day. Sampras returned after a restless night and lost 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 against 29 aces. "He was the better man," Sampras said. Krajicek was more guarded: "I'm not unbelievably excited yet because I'm still in the tournament."
Source: The Spokesman-ReviewWimbledon 1996 · Final
Shortly before he and MaliVai Washington began, a 23-year-old named Melissa Johnson ran across Centre Court wearing very little. Washington said he got flustered. Twenty years later Krajicek remembered it well: "I was lucky," he said, noting that another champion's streaker had been male. He won in 94 rain-interrupted minutes.
Source: Sports IllustratedThe Netherlands, from 1997
In 1997, a year after his Wimbledon title, he set up the Krajicek Foundation to get young people in deprived Dutch urban areas into sport and outdoor play. It builds Krajicek Playgrounds with local councils and now counts 129 of them in 40 municipalities, reaching more than 5,800 children.
Source: Krajicek FoundationFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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