Coach for 10 No. 1s is a record that will never be broken

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He probably "coached" 15,000 during his time at the Academy. The guy was a great promoter of himself. He definitely helped some kids, but the vast majority of his students think he knew little to nothing about tennis. It's impressive, but mainly because he realized he could get all of that talent in one place because no one else was developing young talent in the sport on a mass level. He did put the academy together, you can't deny he had a good idea and it worked.

10 10s #1s

What the hell are you talking about - this man was so widely respected in the tennis community for his coaching especially.

sounds like a very cheap excuse from those that didn't make it.

He went against the grain and preached working on strengths instead of weaknesses, which I always found so interesting. Got a good forehand? Run around the backhand. Got a good good serve? Spend more time on practicing the serve.

well done

Hmmmm, where are you getting that? He was at the very least "controversial" as a coach. He self-admittedly knows very little about tennis. He was mostly about branding the academy. He did something no one else did. I'll give him that. Great tennis coach? I don't think so.

I haven't read all the bios but I have read these three: Agassi, Seles, and Courier disliked him and said he did nothing for their game. Agassi and Seles said he actually regressed their game. Agassi's career took a massive upswing when he finally got Brad Gilbert as a coach. Seles said NB made her change her two-hander for a one-hander on her groundstrokes, which caused her game to slip and when she went back to her two hander he kicked her out of school. When you say he "coached" 10 number 1's, it doesn't mean he was coaching them when they were number one. He had the largest group of talent in the world at his academy. Many later became number one.

Went to IMG for HS. I took a half hour lesson from him in 2012. My game improved more than it had in the 4 years before that combined.

What did he focus on during those 30 minutes?

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Dial 10-10-220?

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Talk about a throwback. I will say this and most folks younger than me don’t have a clue.

I went to IMG for a brief period in HS, lived briefly in Bradenton after the pandemic and I remember an uber I took bragging about hanging out w Nick and playing in the courts near his home back in the day. Dude’s a legend. Rest in peace.

Dang. When I was younger (maybe around 9-10) I was very good at tennis and I went to the Bollettieri/IMG camp because my father wanted me to train and become a professional, and others have referred me there. Many Serbians were there at the camps which my father liked (I’m half serbian) as well.

I met Bollettieri and Tommy Haas there and got pictures too. I couldn’t do the camp because we didn’t have enough money. But I always like to think that if I went there, that I would play in the ATP and become pro. Really sucks. He’s a great coach and a decent guy.

Changing my two hand backhand to a one hand. It worked. Never went back.

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It’s one of my favorite ones to drop when people bring up really old things we all probably remember 😂 I’m glad you caught it, too!

Seriously? So many upvotes, but what Frosty-Shower said is basically correct.

It is a well known fact (if you follow tennis) that Bolletieri didn't know much about tennis. The downvotes tell me that most people are at most casual tennis fans

Agreed. His name is associated with a lot of great players. Not really the same as being a great coach. He had an innovative idea, and had a mass pool of talent. He gets some credit, but he's not Paula Anacone, Brad Gilbert, Darren Cahill, or a host of other coaches.

Cuz he was wrong… this man charged $2k an hr for lessons that people happily paid. My wife is a former WTA player, the consensus among professional tennis players is that he was the best and is well respected.