Remembering Nick Bollettieri — Must-click women’s tennis links
By Joey Dillon
The IX: Tennis Tuesday with Joey Dillon, Dec. 6, 2022
Happy Tennis Tuesday, our first of December! The offseason is usually a time for reflecting and today is no different. Though he was shown to be in declining health recently, Nick Bollettieri took to Twitter to say he was in good spirits. However, yesterday the age of 91, Bollettieri — perhaps the most famous tennis coach in history — passed away.
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For a man with limited elite tennis background, Bollettieri would begin teaching tennis following a stint in the US Army. While leading a program at a resort after quitting law school, the idea of opening his own live-in academy popped into his head and he secured a $1 million loan from a friend. From there, the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy was born in 1978 before moving to their current location in Bradenton, Florida in 1981.
Forever a salesman, he would recruit players to join his academy in hopes of being the next great. NBTA — which was later bought by IMG and developed into the 600-acre mega-campus for prep sports — would end up producing or guiding 10 players to the World No. 1 singles ranking, including Venus and Serena Williams, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova.
He produced dozens of Top 100 players and Grand Slam champions including Mary Pierce, Tatiana Golovin, Daniela Hantuchova and Anna Kournikova. While the great impact was seen off the court, Bollettieri essentially changed the landscape of tennis forever with his boarding school method. His vision set the current standards you see at the USTA National Campus, the Rafael Nadal Academy and Mouratoglou Tennis Academy. Bollettieri envisioned a place where players can get a lot of exposure — in media, of course, but to countless game styles from players from all over the globe.
The NBTA was a tennis haven built on tomato fields and still hosts the Eddie Herr International, a famous ITF Junior World Tour tournament held last week. Sure, he hasn’t produced a top talent in nearly 20 years, but he was still giving incredible insight to all levels, all over. He helped change the game from where all players played alike to championing players to think and play different — on the baseline, aggressive and on the rise.
In 2014, Bollettieri’s impact led him to the International Tennis Hall of Fame — one of 13 Hall of Fames where he’s included. What he lacked in technical training, he doubled in motivation with experience from his military days. He forever shook the tennis landscape and changed the sport’s trajectory. One has to think: where would tennis be if Nick Bollettieri didn’t exist?
Fortunately, we’ll never know.
Thank you, Nick.
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Tweet of the Week
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Five at The IX: Reactions to Nick Bollettieri’s Passing
Mondays: Soccer |
By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
Tuesdays: Tennis |
By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
Wednesdays: Basketball |
By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
Thursdays: Golf |
By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
Fridays: Hockey |
By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
Saturdays: Gymnastics |
By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |