Veteran tennis ace Richard Krajicek is no stranger to travel. The Dutch Wimbledon champ secured his legacy when he won the Men's Singles title in 1996, handing Pete Sampras his only tournament defeat within his god-like seven year reign of dominance.
Stepping back from the game in 2004, “De Kraai” (Dutch for "The Crow") has become tournament director of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament and has also found time to travel as a motivational speaker and author a series of books.
We caught up with 42-year-old at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi at the announcement of Tennis at The Palace, an event set to welcome a host of tennis legends for a lavish garden party event next March, which will also welcome Pat Cash and Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui.
Richard, you’ve travelled the world as a tennis pro, and continue to live life on the road through all of your other endeavours. But what destinations keep calling you back for leisure?
Yeah, I travelled as part of the tour and you always have those set places, but what I really enjoyed a lot was Australia. Coming from Holland, good weather is so important to me. The weather is so bad in our part of the world but, in Australia, you can guarantee good weather.
Australia is a tough trip but I would always arrive early December for a week of holiday and then prepare for two weeks for the tournaments there. My coach is also Australian so he was happy that he could go and visit his parents. I like the country but especially the people.
I would go to Sydney but maybe Melbourne, which I prefer because it’s a little more laid back. Sydney is a little more worldly somehow and Melbourne is very spread out. I also went up north to the Barrier Reef with my then girlfriend – now wife – to go snorkelling.
The biggest mistake I made there… not wearing enough sunscreen.
Australia is a difficult trip from Northern Europe, and you’re no stranger to air travel. What are your in-flight rituals and how do you stay entertained?
In-flight entertainment! Sometimes I can’t sleep on the flight, and often don’t have the patience for movies because my mind is on so many things. On (my most recent flight) I watched about nine episodes of The Big Bang Theory. And the good thing is, I still have about five episodes to go.
And the nice thing now about Etihad is that I have the WiFi and a telephone – I was making a lot of calls. I could hear them but they couldn’t hear me so well, so it was a little sketchy. But I could send emails and texts, whereas I used to prepare emails to send when I landed. Now I just send them straight away.
So it’s a combination of sleeping, working and watching some TV series.
You’re obviously a fan of Etihad, but how do you rate them against other First and Business Class experiences?
I’ve flown with a lot of companies and Etihad is very luxurious, but I’ve not flown with them so much. I often fly with KLM to New York, to go to the Open and I also fly to our house in Spain. I have to say, KLM have just upgraded their Business Class, which is very impressive.
But flying to the UAE on Etihad was the most luxurious experience so far. I ordered a Diet Coke on take-off. When they brought a tea by mistake, I got four apologies! So they’re really service oriented, which is really important. It’s always the people that make the difference.
Etihad and Singapore Airlines have the best people. And also KLM because we speak the same language and they all know who I am. So that’s my top three: Etihad, Singapore and KLM.
Speaking of service, you’ve stayed in hundreds of five-star hotels around the world. At this point, what are you looking for and what are your priorities when you arrive at a hotel?
My wife goes straight for the spa, but I’ll go check out the gym, and the bed and shower are important. But I want to feel at home straight away and I had that feeling here (at Emirates Palace).
I came into my room and sometimes you have the feeling it’s not yours but here, I can’t explain it, you have the feeling it’s *your* room.
And then sometimes there are nice gimmicks. I remember I stayed in the Marriott in Hong Kong. It was a small room but there were electric windows that opened up to give a view of the harbour and the mountains. I still remember that.
Obviously hotel gyms are important to you. What do you need and what are you looking for?
A good cardio machine – preferably a cross trainer. And I like the equipment to be new. You can tell when a hotel installs a gym and then they just never look at it. Here in Abu Dhabi they have one or two people greeting you, which I don’t mind, but at least they’re always there to see what needs attention.
In some places, the gym never matches the brochure but I do like the brand Technogym. And I was in the gym just after I arrived this morning. I just needed to sweat it out after a long flight. And I always need the cardio equipment – it keeps my weight down.
And you’re also an avid golfer - does this influence your travel choices?
I haven’t played for a while now because of a bad knee, but I play quite badly. I used to look for courses when I travelled but I always do sports in the morning and take the rest of the day to relax. Next time I come to the UAE I’m going to rent a boat and go fishing.
And you’re also a motivational speaker now. For our readers who struggle to stay in shape when they’re on the road, how would you inspire them to keep fit?
Well, if they struggle with food I can relate because for me that’s also a struggle. But there’s always a reason not to train. And if you want to do 45 minutes of exercise a day, you don’t even have to do it at once. You can do 20 minutes at the beginning and the end of the day.
Don’t think about the excuses, the work and the emails, because you’ll never run out of them – just do it.