Two-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka has announced that he will work with Richard Krajicek during the grass-court season.
The addition of the 1996 Wimbledon Champion has been made in the bid to help further develop Wawrinka’s game on the grass. It is understood that the former world No.4 will work with the Swiss player for four weeks until the end of the Wimbledon Championships, which will start at the end of this month.
Since retiring from tennis in 2003, Krajicek has remained involved in tennis and has been the tournament director of the Rotterdam Open since 2004. Earlier this year, he publicly said that he was interested in coaching during an interview with Dutch magazine AD.
“When I think that if there might be a player that I might be able to help and if I can combine it with my work as a tournament director, I am interested,” he said in February about a future career in coaching.
Besides his triumph at the 1996 Wimbledon tournament, the Dutchman has also won two ATP grass-court titles in Hertogenbosch in 1994 and 1997.
The inclusion of Krajicek is a welcoming addition for Wawrinka. Despite being a two-time major champion and reaching 21 ATP Finals, he is yet to reach a final at a grass-court tournament. Wimbledon is currently Wawrinka’s worst grand slam in term of performance. With a current win-loss of 17-11, the world No.5 has reached the quarter-finals the past two years at SW19.
The first test of the Wawrinka-Krajicek partnership will be next week at the Aegon Championships. Seeded second at the London tournament, Wawrinka will be one out of ten top-20 players playing in the event.
Wawrinka isn’t the first player to enlist the help of a former Wimbledon champion for the upcoming grass season. Milos Raonic has recently confirmed that he will work alongside John McEnroe.
As I’m always looking to improve on court, I would like to take this opportunity to announce as of immediately that I have added
— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) 10 June 2016
Richard Krajicek to my existing coaching staff to help during the grass court season for the next 4 weeks. Magnus, Yannick and I are really
— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) 10 June 2016
excited about the new addition to our team – adding a former Wimbledon Champion can only further my knowledge and understanding of the grass
— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) 10 June 2016
It’s a real privilege and honour to add such a champion to my corner.🌱🌱🍀🍀🍃🍃🎾🎾🎾
— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) 10 June 2016
