Željko Krajan (;; born 3 February 1979) is a Croatian tennis coach and former professional player.

Playing career

Krajan, a native of

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

, began playing tennis at age six.. Retrieved on June 9, 2008 His greatest success as a junior player was winning the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

doubles tournament with

Ivan Ljubičić Ivan Ljubičić (; born 19 March 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking on 1 May 2006. His career highlights include reaching a Grand S ...

in 1995. Krajan started his pro career at the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...

in 1997. His highest ATP ranking was No. 88 in August 2002. In 2003 Krajan was sidelined following a shoulder surgery. In 2004 he suffered a serious

quadriceps The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...

tear, which ultimately caused his retirement from professional tennis in 2005.

Coaching career

From 2005 on, Krajan turned to coaching, at first working with Saša Tuksar, a young Croatian tennis player, and then with German junior players as

Heinz Günthardt Heinz Peter Günthardt (born 8 February 1959) is a retired tennis player from Switzerland. Tennis player career Günthardt won five singles titles during his professional career, including the Rotterdam WCT in 1980. The right-hander reached hi ...

's assistant coach. In 2006 and 2007 he played in the German Regionalliga Süd-Ost for TC Ismaning. In October 2007, upon recommendation by

, he became the coach of

Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (; ; tt-Cyrl, Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. Safina was runner-up in singles at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and the ...

, who was at the time at a psychological low point of her career, ranked No. 17 in the world, and close to retiring from tennis. Under Krajan's lead, Safina scored good results in the early 2008 season and placed runner-up in the 2008 French Open. After the 2008 French Open, Krajan was joined by Dejan Vojnović, retired Croatian Olympic sprinter, who became Safina's fitness coach. Her continued string of good results earned her the 2008 WTA Most Improved Player award, and the World No. 1 spot in April 2009. Safina described Krajan as "totally different from any other tennis coach" due to his patience and positive approach, as opposed to being preoccupied with correcting flaws in one's game. Safina and Krajan parted ways in May 2010. In June of the same year Krajan started coaching

Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 and Petra Kvitová in 2011) to win ...

. Krajan ceased working with Cibulkova in April 2012. In January 2012 Krajan took over coaching of the Croatian Davis Cup team. From April to June 2012 Krajan worked with

Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former tennis player. A former world No. 1, Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the ...

on trial basis. In August 2012 Krajan began coaching

Laura Robson Laura Robson (born 21 January 1994) is a British former professional tennis player. She debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2007, and a year later won the Junior Wimbledon championships at the age of 14. As a junior, she also twice reached t ...

, until they parted ways in May 2013, before the

Mutua Madrid Open The Madrid Open ( es, Masters de Madrid, link=no), currently sponsored by Mutua Madrileña and known as the Mutua Madrid Open, is a joint men's and women's professional tennis tournament, held in Madrid, during early May. The clay-court event is ...

. Since May 2013, he returned to work in the ATP, coaching Former World No. 8 and

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...

finalist

Marcos Baghdatis Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimbledo ...

. In November 2014,

Borna Ćorić Borna Ćorić (; born 14 November 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player. On 5 November 2018, he reached his best singles ranking of world No. 12. On 21 August 2022, Ćorić became the lowest-ranked champion in Masters 1000 history when ...

decided to take Krajan as his new coach. In April 2015, he left Ćorić and has quit being his coach to spend more time with his family. On 25 November 2018, he won the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organi ...

with the national team. On 9 November 2019, just nine days before the

, he parted ways with the national team.

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 9 (6–3)

Doubles: 4 (2–2)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krajan, Zeljko 1979 births Croatian male tennis players Croatian tennis coaches People from Varaždin Living people