LONDON (Reuters) – World number five Stanislas Wawrinka has added former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek to his coaching team for the grass court season, the Swiss player said on Friday.
Big-serving Dutchman Krajicek, Wimbledon winner in 1996, will join Wawrinka at London’s Queen’s Club next week as the Swiss tunes up for this month’s grass court grand slam.
“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 Richard Krajicek to my existing coaching staff to help during the grass court season for the next four weeks,” the 31-year-old said on his Facebook page. “Adding a former Wimbledon champion can only further my knowledge and understanding of the grass. It’s a real privilege and honor to add such a champion to my corner.”
Krajicek will join Wawrinka’s existing coach Magnus Norman and assistant Yannick Fattebert.
Twice grand slam champion Wawrinka has never really shone at Wimbledon, losing to Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals last year and Roger Federer at the same stage in 2014.
It is the only grand slam in which he is yet to reach the semi-finals.
Wawrinka is the latest player to hire a former grand slam champion as a coach.
Canadian Milos Raonic, ranked nine, recently announced he would work with triple Wimbledon champion John McEnroe during the grass court season.
Federer once worked with Swede Stefan Edberg while world number one Novak Djokovic has Boris Becker, another former Wimbledon great, in his camp.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
Reuters
