Richard Krajicek

Richard Krajicek

Richard Krajicek came out of Rotterdam with one of the biggest serves of the 1990s and a forehand to match, and for a fortnight in 1996 nobody could handle either. Unseeded at Wimbledon until Thomas Muster withdrew and freed the seventeenth slot, he beat Pete Sampras, the three-time defending champion, 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinal, the only defeat Sampras suffered at Wimbledon between 1993 and 2000. In the final he served past MaliVai Washington 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Thirty years on, he is still the only Dutchman with a Grand Slam singles title.

The body gave less than the game deserved. Knee trouble ran through his career, and elbow surgery in 2001 cost him twenty months; he still returned to one more Wimbledon quarterfinal in 2002, the ATP's comeback player of the year. He retired in 2003, at 31, with 17 career titles, 1 of them that major, and a career-high No. 4 in 1999. Since 2004 he has directed Rotterdam's ABN AMRO tournament, the job he still holds.