For those who know the tennis of the nineties that of Nick Bollettieriwho died at 91, is a mythical name, associated by a coach and talent scout with characters such as Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Maria Sharapova, but also to the Williams sisters. In the movie King Richard – A winning family, the father of Venus and Serena takes the girls to Florida, to what was then the Mecca of tennis, the Bollettieri academy. “One day their father, a genius, brought them both to me. From there they rewrote history,” said the coach.
In those years he radically changed his approach to the racket, with obsessive physical preparation and absolute discipline, derived from his past as a Marine. Not everyone loved her and Agassi does not leave out the details of her stay at the academy in her Open book. Never give up, never give up was his mantra. «A champion is not satisfied with second place».
Nick Bollettieri had origins Neapolitan (he always chose Capri for his honeymoons), but he was born in Pelham, near New York. Soccer and football were the popular sports, but for him, there was only tennis. A philosophy graduate, he dropped out of Miami law school after three months to teach on a public field in North Miami Beach.
In 1978 the foundation of the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton Florida. In 1987 the management colossus IMG bought it, leaving him the technical direction of the structure. «We were the first to open a facility where kids could train and at the same time live inside it. Nobody believed it. I found the money to leave only thanks to a friend. Since then, thousands of boys and girls have come to see me, some have even become famous »he told Vanity Fair. 12 world number ones from all over the world pass through Bollettieri’s methods: Boris Becker, André Agassi, Marcelo Rios, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Serene and Venus Williams, Maria SharapovaJelena Jankovic, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis.
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All armed with talent, all subjected to the strict discipline of the Academy: wake up at 4.45am, train until 11.30am and then again until 5pm after lunch. For many a nightmare as he says Agassi who spent 9 years with Bollettieri. He was 14 at the start and was only to stay for three weeks.
The relationship with Agassi is iconic, but Bollettieri was above all dedicated to tennis. He had 7 children and 8 wives. The last one, Cindi, explained it clearly: «When I married him I knew well that I would be the lover: he has already married his Academy». Now the Academy employs 650 people and from the initial 40 acres purchased through a friend it now occupies 450.
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Source: Vanity Fair
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