Filip Krajinovic was born on February 27, 1992, in Sombor, Serbia, to Stipan and Vera Krajinovic. He began playing tennis at the age of 5. From age 13 to 19, Krajinovic trained at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, USA. He also trained with Mario Ancic on various occasions in 2009 and 2010.
Krajinovic did not have an immediate breakthrough on the ATP Tour. He scrapped away for a few years on the ITF Futures Circuit and then the ATP Challenger Tour with only limited success, still being outside the Top 200 at the end of 2013. The Serbian had more success in 2014 and 2015, although he still did not make a major ATP Tour breakthrough.
Krajinovic won four Challenger Tour titles in total between 2014 and 2015, while also getting a small handful of wins on the ATP Tour. A serious injury meant Krjainovic was ruled out for most of the 2016 season. It seemed like any momentum he had built would be lost and a difficult few years could follow.
However, 2017 saw him make one of the most unexpected runs of the 21st century. At the 2017 Paris Masters, Krajinovic entered the main draw after coming through qualifying. The Serbian then triumphed in straight sets against Yuichi Sugita and Sam Querrey in the opening two rounds.
After beating Nicolas Mahut in the third round, Krajinovic had some luck when he received a walkover in the quarterfinal from Rafael Nadal. The semifinal saw Krajinovic have a thrilling battle against the huge serving John Isner, but he progressed to the final with a 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 victory.
It seemed like Krajinovic might go all the way when he won the first set of the final against Jack Sock. However, he ultimately fell short after a 7-5, 4-6, 1-6 defeat. Krajinovic became a consistent Top 100 player after his run in Paris.
The highlight of his 2018 season was his very strong performance during the Sunshine Double in March. After reaching the third round in Indian Wells, he went even further at the Miami Open by making the fourth round, losing at that stage to Juan Martin Del Potro. An even better season followed in 2019.
Krajinovic progressed to the final of two ATP events. The first was on clay at the Hungarian Open, where he fell in three sets to Matteo Berrettini. Unfortunately, the other final also ended in defeat at the Stockholm Open to Denis Shapovalov.
Krajinovic also made it to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the Australian Open in 2019, before doing so again a few months later at the French Open. He ended the season with an impressive 31-18 win/loss record.
The most notable moments of 2020 for Krajinovic came during the North American hard-court season in August and September. He reached the first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal of his career in Cincinnati. This included a 6-2, 6-1 hammering of Dominic Thiem, who won the US Open a few weeks later. Krajinovic made his first third round at Flushing Meadows at the same event.
2021 brought a first ATP 500 and fourth ATP final in total at the Hamburg Open. His run in Germany saw him beat the No. 1 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on his way to the final. But it was fourth time unlucky in the final, losing it 2-6, 4-6 to Pablo Carreno Busta.
Krajinovic’s fifth ATP final came unexpectedly at the 2022 Queen’s Club Championships on grass, with the Serbian having very little previous success on the surface until that point. Despite putting up a brave fight against the previous year’s Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini, he suffered another final defeat.
The Serbian’s form has fallen considerably since that moment, leading to Krajinovic dropping out of the Top 400 during the 2024 season.
