The Hague, June 19: Former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek has retired from professional tennis, the a news agency reported today. The big Dutchman, operated on his right elbow in March 2001, came back to the ATP tour after a 20-month absence in 2002 and reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals that year. Krajicek has not claimed a title in the past three years and recently pulled out of the French Open and Wimbledon, the latter after losing to Frenchman Olivier Mutis in a tournament at S'hertogenbosch on Tuesday. He had been drawn to play defending champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the second round at Wimbledon next week.
Krajicek won 17 ATP titles in his 14 years on the tour, earning almost 10 million dollars in prize money.
He was ranked no 4 in the world in 1999. Bureau Report