[Leo7]

The 1996 Wimbledon Champion, Richard Krajicek, is BACK! after an incredible Wimbledon run, reaching the Quarterfinals without any match play (only 1 match in the previous 20 months), he is continuing his comeback by kicking ass in Cincinnati! 7-6, 6-2 today over Mark P!

next victim: Gonzalez. win it in straights!

let's bounce for Rich!

 

[Leo7]

 

[Jessi]

Go Richard!

 

[Tryphon]

Thanks for the pix.

I like the movement of the left arm!

 

[Jessi]

Good luck in your next match Richard!

 

[Leo7]

oh well... on to the USO! rest up Krajicek so you can kick some ass in New York!

 

[sparkle]

i love him. I have his sweat bands from 1992 at USO he gave me in plastic display stands. I first saw him when he played AA at Wimbledon, and then when I got in the elevator at the hotel he was there with me! I said omg you just played AA, you're a new tennis star. He has always been the sweetest, nicest man in tennis, besides playing such a wonderful game. It would be so nice if he won the USO this year.

 

[Leo7]

i love him. I have his sweat bands from 1992 at USO he gave me in plastic display stands. I first saw him when he played AA at Wimbledon, and then when I got in the elevator at the hotel he was there with me! I said omg you just played AA, you're a new tennis star. He has always been the sweetest, nicest man in tennis, besides playing such a wonderful game. It would be so nice if he won the USO this year.

hey sparkle! i hope to see you on this thread often!

 

[Henmaniac]

Go Richard!!

 

[Leo7]

Richard will face #14 Jiri Novak in the 1st round of the USO! although he is a seed, Krajicek just beat Novak in the 1st round of Cincy! GOOOOOO Richard!

 

[Leo7]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! he lost!

Richard could not complete his 1st round match against Jiri Novak, he retired during the 2nd set! i hope the other Dutch players can make up for this loss!

 

[Leo7]

Krajicek retires with foot injury to hand Novak victory
NEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek was forced to retire with a foot injury during his first round match against Czech Jiri Novak at the U.S. Open on Monday.

Novak, the 14th seed, was leading Krajicek 6-1 5-4 when the Dutchman quit due to a right heel injury.

"It actually got worse a little bit, completely terrible at the end," said Krajicek on his ailment.

"What happened with my foot, I don't know what that is but tennis-wise, it wasn't a very good day."

A three-time quarter-finalist, Krajicek missed last year's Open as he recovered from elbow surgery.

He returned to action in June and reached the last eight at Wimbledon last month before losing a five-set marathon to Belgium's Xavier Malisse.

Novak, a semi-finalist at the Australian Open in January, will face either Dutch qualifier John van Lottum or Luis Horna of Peru in the second round

 

[Henmaniac]

 

[Leo7]

In his first tour match since August, Richard Krajicek showed few signs of rust as he defeated wildcard Scott Draper in straight sets: 7-6(4), 6-4. Richard now moves on to the 2nd round in Adelaide where he will be facing Franco Squillari, a former top twenty player and Roland Garros semifinalist in 2000. Squillari pulled off a big upset today over top-seeded Wayne Ferreira. Good Luck to Richard!

 

[Leo7]

What the Players Said -

Draper: "He obviously serves unbelievable, he's been doing it his whole career. He was a little bit scratchy on the ground and some volleys he wouldn't normally miss, but with that weapon of a serve it's very hard to break. I lost my serve once. I played two bad points in the match and I'm the loser. Pretty frustrating.

"I felt that I put him under more pressure a lot of the time, but it was that one game. He's a frustrating guy to play. He's a great player. I'm happy with the way I'm playing. Things are getting better all the time; I'm fit, I'm pretty confident. I'm looking forward to the Australian Open and the Davis Cup. I've got a wild card to Sydney, so I'm looking forward to that as well."

Krajicek: "I was serving very big, that saved my match today, I guess. It's not the first time but today was pretty extreme I thought. The rest of my game I was struggling with. It's maybe a combination of things, because of Scott, the way he plays, he's left handed, it was a little windy and I haven't played too many matches the last couple of months. I was just serving myself out of trouble a lot and he missed one or two shots maybe he shouldn't. Frustrating for him because in a way, he was the better player for a set and a half, but I was the one who was a set up."

On his elbow: "A couple of weeks before Wimbledon I was still struggling a lot, but I told my coach, if I don't make the American summer, I basically said we would stop. I always had the feeling that if I stop with my coach, I basically say goodbye to top tennis. I said I was going to take off until the end of the year and if the elbow still wasn't good, then I'd retire. But now there hasn't been a day yet when I'd have to hold back. I could do everything I wanted to in the end."

THURSDAY PREVIEW
Richard Krajicek has won 17 career singles titles, including the 1996 Wimbledon championship. But how long has it been since he's won an ATP tournament? You have to go back four seasons, to 1999, to find the Dutchman's last triumph. That year he won London (on indoor carpet) and the Tennis Masters Series event in Miami. It was also the year he reached his career-high ranking of No.4.

With the Adelaide draw further opening up Wednesday with the departure of top seeds Wayne Ferreira (whom Krajicek would have faced in the second round) and Max Mirnyi, the veteran may start thinking about winning the AAPT Championships title. But first Krajicek must do what Ferreira could not and defeat Argentine Franco Squillari when the pair play for a quarterfinal berth. Krajicek defeated Squillari in straight sets at Wimbledon last year en route to the quarterfinals

keep it going Richard!

 

[Leo7]

Richard beat Franco Squillari 6-4, 6-3! onto the Quarterfinals.. good luck

 

[Slammin'Schalken:)]

Good luck Rich, go go go!

 

[Leo7]

btw, Richard plays American Brian Vahaly in the Quarterfinals. i saw Brian play against James in the USO last year and he's actually pretty good; a scrappy player that is quite speedy and gets alot of balls back. but i think if Krajicek's serve is working thanb he will win.

 

[Leo7]

Krajicek destroyed the young American Brian Vahaly 6-1, 6-3 to reach the Semifinals in Adelaide. this is great news.. he seems to be playing better and better every round. Richard next plays K. Vliegen, who upset Thomas Enqvist earlier this week. Good Luck, Richard!

 

[Leo7]

here is whaat Richard said after his previous win over Squillari:

“I was moving the ball around pretty well with my backhand slice,” Krajicek said. “I also hit better returns. I still feel some pressure. I haven't played a lot of matches. I hit a few good ones (forehands) to win the first set; I hit two good winners. Sometimes I feel a little bit tight on it, but it is improving. I expect to play better every match. (Today was) a better performance for myself than yesterday.”

"I think I served better yesterday, it saved me,” Krajicek said. “Today I had to come up with a few volleys also. I think anyone's tricky for me at the moment. If I serve big I'm dangerous."

"Today was a longer match, so that was nice,” Krajicek said. “I really notice that's the difference because I've been practicing a lot, sometimes a couple of hours a day and I don't feel anything. Then today after a couple of games and a few rallies, left-right, and I'm losing my breath, so I have to get used to the matches and slowly build up like that. This was a better match for me to improve physically."

KEEP GOING