Pro Media & News

World doubles No. 1 Austin Krajicek thrives with a little help from his friends

Haley Fuller | December 20, 2023

Austin Krajicek has steadily been rising up the ranks as one of the world's best doubles players, and in 2023, his hard work finally paid off. The American is the year-end world No. 1 in doubles, and finished as part of the year's No. 1 team with his Croatian partner Ivan Dodig.

 

In 2018, Krajicek—who touched a career-high singles ranking of No. 94 in 2015 but largely was an ATP Challenger Tour stalwart—decided to focus solely on doubles. Although he didn’t have a consistent partner, he broke into the Top 40, and reached the bronze medal match of the Tokyo Olympics with Tennys Sandgren and the final of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati with Steve Johnson. But his ranking soon shot up into the Top 10 after he joined forced with Dodig full-time in the spring of 2022.

Krajicek's rise was not only the fruits of a five-year plan. He had always been a doubles talent—he was the 2011 NCAA Division I doubles champion—but having a consistent partner and moving up a few spots in the rankings helped him gain entry into more prestigious ATP 500 and ATP 1000 Masters events, and get seeded at Grand Slams, which in turn allowed for more ranking points.

 

Just weeks after their partnership began, Krajicek and Dodig won their first title in Lyon, and followed it by reaching the final of Roland Garros, although they lost after failing to convert three championship points.

 

“We had some tough tournaments to start, but I think our personalities off the court clicked, and our approach to the game, how we handle losses, how we handle wins really met there,” Krajicek told usta.com earlier this month. “We had a great Roland Garros that first year, and then built on it throughout the year and have been playing better ever since.”

Photo by Darren Carroll/USTA.

In all, the pair reached seven finals together in that first year, helping Krajicek end 2022 at a then-career-high world No. 9. But what was the recipe for near-instant success? 

 

One obvious asset is Krajicek's left-handedness, because the varying spin can make opponents uncomfortable returning serve. Dodig has a strong return to complement his partner’s consistent serve, enabling Krajicek to take some risks on the court. Krajicek is also able to rely on the Croatian in high-pressure situations.

 

“He's one of the best players to ever play, so to be able to lean on that experience in some of the big moments on the big courts and big stadiums has been great. I think that's been able to help me play well and stay calm,” Krajicek said. “We both feed off each other and I can push him as well a little bit. It's been a good match.”

Photo by Darren Carroll/USTA.

Good soon became great in 2023: The pair lifted the trophy in Monte-Carlo, then earned the moniker of Grand Slam champions at Roland Garros—a win which catapulted Krajicek to the top spot.

 

While Krajicek said it was particularly special for two of his lifelong dreams to occur simultaneously, finishing as No. 1 was a different feeling—one that hadn’t quite sunk in at the time of our interview.

That might've been because multiple forces were at play in determining the year-end rankings after he and Dodig failed to avance out of the round-robin stage at the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

 

For most of Krajicek’s career, outcomes and rankings were a direct result of how he played, but at the end of the season, he was forced to sweat things out: If Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury lifted the year-end trophy, Krajicek would finish as No. 1. (They did.)

“This was one of the first circumstances where we needed some help, luckily from Rajeev, one of my good buddies,” he said. “Certain teams had to lose and certain teams had to win and it worked out that way." 

 

Though he's already earned some of tennis' top accolades, Krajicek, now 33, says he's committed to reaching greater heights. His primary goals for 2024 are to win another major title and the year-end Nitto ATP Finals with Dodig, and to lift a mixed doubles Grand Slam trophy alongside Jessica Pegula, which the American duo almost accomplished at this year’s US Open. 

 

His position as the U.S.'s male standard-bearer in doubles also means that he'll likely have the chance to achieve something that escaped him three years ago: a spot on the Olympic podium. His 2023 season also included his first-ever nomination to the U.S. Davis Cup team after previously being a practice partner on three different occasions. He and Ram went 3-1 together in Davis Cup this year, and will no doubt be gold-medal favorites should they partner up next spring at the Paris Olympics. 

“The depth of American guys right now is great. Jackson [Withrow] and Nate [Lammons], they're playing phenomenal tennis. At the end of the year, I think they were one of the best teams without question. Rajeev's obviously been dominating for a long time now, so it's cool to team up with him at some of these big events, Davis Cup and hopefully the Olympics," he said.

 

“There's a bunch of young guys coming through that have the potential on both sides. The singles guys are really impressive as well, and the Americans have a great group of guys. I think everyone gets along well, everyone has good personalities, it's good camaraderie. It's really cool to follow that and support those guys and see them do well. Hopefully, it'll only continue and we'll fill in some more guys in the Top 10.”

 

But no matter the results, there's no doubt that Krajicek has developed into a quiet leader in the currently-rich tapestry of American tennis. As the reward for a long journey to the top, it's a position he says he's learning to relish.

Photo by Pete Staples/USTA.

“Any time you have ‘USA’ on your shirt, it's just a different feeling,” Krajicek said. “On the pro tour you're on your own all the time—obviously doubles is a team, but at the same time it's just you and your partner and maybe coaches—so to be able to play on a team and play for something bigger than yourself is really unique. Any time I get to do that, I'm all in to represent [the] USA.”

Skip Advertisement

Advertisement

Related Articles