One
of the biggest names not playing at Wimbledon is Richard Krajicek, the
winner of 1996
who is rehabilitating of a surgery to his elbow. The question is: How is
he doing?
My elbow
is doing really well. Last week I carefully started serving. Now we have
to wait and see
whether
the tendon I had surgery on will be able to handle the power of a full
serve. I only
have
60% of the tendon left, the quality of the rest was so bad that they removed
it. But my surgeon
Dr.
Nirschl believes I will be able to play tennis at the top level again.
How is your motivation and how is your mood now?
I
have to be patient. Rehabilitation remains sort of an attack on your spirit.
It's long-winded and
tiring,
while the outcome remains uncertain. But I can say, in all honesty, that
I am very
motivated.
Of
course I notice that many people don't understand what I'm doing. I'm 29
years old,
I've
been number 4 in the world, I've won 17 tournaments and I've won Wimbledon,
and I can
see
them thinking: "You've had a beautiful career, just sit down on the couch.
The chance
of
you returning to the top after a 9-month-break is not very big." Maybe
they are right.
And
maybe they aren't. I have to try. My career has never had a good flow of
playing
undisturbed
tennis for years. Then there are two things you can do: You can stay annoyed,
or
you can accept it and go on. Years ago I chose to do the last. Each time
I fight to get back
again.
And so far I've been able to do it every time, although I do realize that
it's gonna be
very
difficult this time. The most important thing is that my body can handle
it and that my
head
wants to. Especially that last thing is ok at the moment.
What forecast do you give yourself for your come-back in the circuit?
I'm concentrating on the tournament of Los Angeles in the week of July
23rd till July 29th.
Or
else I will concentrate on the week after that, in Montreal.
What is it like to miss Wimbledon and what will you do during those weeks?
It gives me a weird feeling. Of course I've had my biggest success on those
courts, so then it's
not
much fun if you have to watch in on television. I actually wanted to go
on a holiday with
my
family during Wimbledon, but my son Alec has been very ill recently. It
turned out he has
the
disease of Kawasaki, a rare disease that only 10 to 15 of each 100.000
children have.
He's
been lying on a drip at the hospital for a week and his disease really
put a lot of things
in
perspective for me. There are more important things than ranking and Championship
race.
Alec
is healthy again, but we don't dare to go on a vacation too far away yet.
So
I think that, during Wimbledon, I will just mow the lawn outside. Maybe
I will make
a
beautiful heart in our lawn, following Kuerten.
How important is the thought of maybe playing in the semi finals of the
Davis Cup
tournament during your rehabilitation?
Of
course I would love to participate. But I will only play when I'm completely
fit, because
the
Dutch team needs players who are top-fit. It's gonna be a difficult task,
bit it is possible.
And
that at our own country! It would be fantastic. Prospects like these keep
me extra
motivated.