On the court, coach and Krajicek's relationship is unproductive

Once a rising star, Michaëlla Krajicek’s performance has floundered in recent years. Some think her coach might be to blame.

There was a time when tennis player Michaëlla Krajicek looked set to attain the same glory on the tennis court as her half brother Richard, a one-time Wimbledon champion. At the age of 18 she made it to the quarter finals reaching as high as 30th place in the Women’s Tennis Association ranking. Three years later, her performance has floundered, and she has tumbled to 131st spot. The last time she was directly admitted to a Grand Slam tournament was in August 2007, when she defeated the Italian Alberta Brianti in the first round of the US Open.

What went wrong? And what part has her fitness trainer, Allistair McCaw (36), played in her decline? Few people close to the tennis starlet dare answer these questions openly, often because Krajicek has expressly forbidden them to do so. Some were willing to share their insights off the record, others not at all. People called the subject matter “too sensitive” and deemed relations “fragile”.

Krajicek has made a habit of deriding journalists who dare report on her romantic relationship with McCaw. In a posting on her personal website last year, she denied the affair. That same year Allistair McCaw divorced his wife and took up residence with Krajicek in Florida , near the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. McCaw rarely, if ever, leaves the former junior champion’s side and has tried to cut his protégé off from the outside world as much as possible. Twitter and email are currently the only means of communicating with Krajicek.

Irish McCaw grew up in a devout family alongside three brothers, and moved to South Africa at a young age. He is described by people who know him as “determined”, “disciplined”, “mentally strong” and as someone with a sense humour.

McCaw started playing tennis at age ten. His resume states he was one of the 15 best players under age 14 in South Africa, but this name barely rang familiar to people at the tennis association in Johannesburg - his former hometown. “I vaguely remember the man,” said managing director Mickey Styles. “He was not bad, but certainly not extraordinary. If he had truly been one of the best I would have remembered his achievements.”

When he hadn’t broken through in international tennis by age 16, McCaw decided to become a duathlete. He proved more successful in that field, becoming a national junior champion in 1994. A year later, he came in fourth at the world championships. For years, McCaw was able to combine his career as a professional duathlete with his work as a fitness trainer in South Africa, the Netherlands, the United States and other countries.

Squash player Natalie Grinham, one of McCaw’s former fitness pupils, recalled he occupied himself little, if at all, with the technical aspects of her sport. According to Grinham, McCaw limited himself to some advice on how to move across the court. To what extent McCaw provides his current pupil with useful technical tips is unknown. Some say he can draws on his experience as a junior player. McCaw himself shares his insights into Krajicek’s performance issues on Twitter [link] in the form of succinct one-liners. “The difference between the top 20 and 200 is CONFIDENCE,” for instance. “K.I.S.S – Keep It Super Simple” and “Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it!” are other examples.

Much has been written about McCaw’s influence on Kraijcek in recent years. Last year, Dutch Fed-Cup captain, Manon Bollegraf, lambasted the fitness coach in an interview with Dutch daily De Telegraaf, calling him too controlling. “Michaëlla won’t listen to reason. It is obvious this does little to improve her tennis,” Bollegraf said at the time. After the article was published, Bollegraf decided to withdraw from the Dutch national team.

Krajicek and McCaw declined a request for comment. ”Another time perhaps, thanks”, was their concise emailed response.