I’ve been lucky enough to get to know the 1996 Wimbledon champion as he’s a regular face at the Berry’s Tennis Classic (shameless plug – get your tickets now for what’s sure to be another fabulous event in June 2020!). Our chat began with Richard telling me about starting out hitting tennis balls with his dad when he was just three. He told me “I knew this was my destiny, so I had to go for it” – talk about inspirational!
We went on to cover everything from tennis, mental challenges, life after tennis and our charitable foundations. These next two paragraphs give a fantastic glimpse into how mentally strong and committed full-time athletes have to be – and crucially, Richard’s words can be applied to business and life too!
What does it take to be an athlete?
“There are only a few people, like Nadal, who were born naturally mentally strong. You have to look in the mirror, ask yourself what went wrong today and how you can improve. I don’t claim to be close to being as mentally strong as Nadal but I kept improving myself, asking for help – and that’s when you grow mentally.
“Sometimes, mainly in practice rather than a match, I would get so angry with one shot that it would cost me the next 15 minutes’ practice. But practice is where it all happens. I learnt that you need to let the frustration wash off you. Then you perform better.”
Here’s my take on self-talk and how to stay mentally strong and positive, from my LinkedIn page. Another interesting view on this is from someone who isn’t a professional athlete – Georgia Harrison, who talks about preparing mentally for her MMA fight.
Life after tennis
Richard retired due to a chronic elbow injury. At that time, he was still one of the top players in the world and he revealed that the mental fortitude he’d developed in his career was very useful at coping with this. As well as supporting great events like Berry’s Tennis, he’s also tournament director at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, which has allowed him many great opportunities to improve his business skills and network too – and he says it has given him lots of new life skills too.
Like me, he also has a charitable foundation. The Krajicek Foundation aims to build safe places for Dutch children to play sport, and has so far built 125 playgrounds and also has a scholarship programme for youngsters to eventually become sports teachers.
Watch my full interview with Richard Krajicek to hear all of his insights!
