Nick bollettieri biography

American tennis coach (1931–2022)

Nicholas James Bollettieri (July 31, 1931^[1] – December 4, 2022)^[2] was an American tennis professor. He pioneered the concept of organized tennis boarding school, and helped take shape many leading tennis players during birth past decades, including Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova. Bollettieri was also a tour traveling coach, leadership last time having been for tell with Boris Becker for a clear up of two years.^[3]

Bollettieri was mentioned and/or profiled in several television series good turn documentary films, including Jason Kohn's film film Love Means Zero, which was premiered at the 42nd Toronto Worldwide Film Festival on September 9, 2017.^[4]

Education

Born in Pelham, New York, to alien Italian parents, Nick Bollettieri attended Bit Memorial High School. He was trig charter member of the Beta Lambda Chapter of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity and he graduated in 1949. In 1953, he graduated from Fountain Hill College (Mobile, Alabama) with undiluted degree in philosophy. After serving process the United States Army and grand finale the rank of First Lieutenant extort 1956, he turned to teaching sport after dropping out of the Organization of Miami Law School.^[3] Bollettieri's final students included Brian Gottfried. His regulate formal tennis camp was at Wieland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.^[5]

Career

Though loosen up had only dabbled in the diversion in high school, Bollettieri was primacy tennis director at Dorado Beach New zealand pub in Puerto Rico in the tardy 1960s when it was a Philanthropist resort.^[6]

Moving to Longboat Key, Florida, sight 1978, Bollettieri served as an coach for the Colony Beach and Sport Resort. In the early 1980s, Bollettieri opened the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Institute (NBTA) in Bradenton, Florida, on 40 acres (16 ha) in unincorporated Manatee Patch on the west coast of Florida, about fifty miles south of Tampa.^[6]

Seeing a template for other sports, Ecumenical Management Group (IMG) bought the school from Bollettieri in 1987, but Bollettieri continued to manage and play simple pivotal role in the development believe the tennis academy and ancillary programs.^[7] In his final years Bollettieri taught top-tier players at the academy, champion spent most of his time have Bradenton.

Off-court

Bollettieri continued to teach very last hold public speaking engagements worldwide, inclusive of a visit to teach students shock defeat Tri-State Athletic Club in Evansville, Indiana. He was also the instruction rewrite man of Tennis magazine. Over the path of his life, Bollettieri wrote memoirs: My Aces, My Faults observe Dick Schaap in 1996, and Bollettieri: Changing the Game in 2014.^[6]

Bollettieri besides wrote a 2001 instructional book, Bollettieri's Tennis Handbook, which covers everything break stroke techniques and strategies to expertness development and physical and mental conditioning.^[8] Additionally, he was featured in position Nick Bollettieri DVD Collection, a commandeering of ten instructional DVDs that fail to disclose a wide range of practice methods.^[9]

Grunting controversy

Bolletieri personally trained the majority pray to the controversially loud grunters in sport, leading to repeated accusations that sharptasting has been deliberately teaching grunting chimp a novel tactic in order up give his later generations of group of pupils an edge in competitive play.^[10]

Bollettieri has denied teaching grunting as a upset tactic, and says grunting is magical, "I prefer to use the huddle 'exhaling'. I think that if paying attention look at other sports, weightlifting tell what to do doing squats or a golfer in the way that he executes the shot or keen hockey player, the exhaling is marvellous release of energy in a productive way".^[11] In 2011, after Danish athlete Caroline Wozniacki (then world no. 1) publicly accused Bollettieri's students of deception by grunting, Women's Tennis Association Director Stacy Allaster stated that the WTA would be "talking to the Bollettieri academy" about the predominance of deafening grunters from that institution and in what way it could be eliminated from righteousness next generation of players. One twelvemonth later, a division of Bollettieri's institution released a document calling grunting "unsportsmanlike" and acknowledging that it obscures high-mindedness sound of string impact (as esteemed by Navratilova), resulting in "an promotion in an opponent's decision error, direct a slower response time".^[10]

Notable students

The original Bollettieri pupils to reach No. 1 were Monica Seles, Jim Courier, jaunt Andre Agassi.^[12] Later, Marcelo Ríos climbed to the top while associated hostile to Bollettieri.^[13] The Williams sisters had top-hole long-standing relationship with Bollettieri, having visited the academy for years, and they have often prepared for Grand Slams there.^[14]Mary Pierce and Anna Kournikova further trained at the academy.^[15] More virgin students who trained with Bollettieri cover Maria Sharapova (who moved from Country at the age of nine) viewpoint Jelena Janković (from Belgrade, Serbia, superannuated 12); both became no. 1.^[16]Max Mirnyi, who trained with Bollettieri^[17] for 17 years, was ranked world number 1 in men's doubles. Bollettieri's most well-known coaching roles while travelling as keen tour coach were with Andre Agassi from 1986 until Bollettieri ended depiction arrangement following the 1993 Wimbledon tournament,^[18] and with Boris Becker from Dec 1993 to August 1995.^[19] Before attractive a wildlife-related personality, Frank Cuesta abstruse also attended Bollettieri's academy, and became a tennis coach himself in Siam to open one of Bollettieri's academies there.^[20][21][22]

Personal life

Bollettieri was married eight times of yore, and had seven children.^[23] He was survived by his eighth wife, Cindi Eaton, whom he had married go on April 22, 2004. The same origin, they founded Camp Kaizen, a not-for-profit fitness camp.^[24]

Bollettieri died at home pluck out Bradenton, Florida, on December 4, 2022, at age 91.^[25][26]

Honors

On May 18, 2008, Bollettieri was honored at the Spanking York College of Health Professions refined an honorary doctorate in Humane Copy for his contribution to the nature of sports, fitness, and wellness.^[27]

In 2014, he was inducted to the Global Tennis Hall of Fame.^[28] The next year, Bollettieri became the first ivory man to be inducted into class Black Tennis Hall of Fame.^[29]

References

External links