sport news Pioneering tennis coach Nick Bollettieri dies aged 91 trends now
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Tennis is mourning Nick Bollettieri, one of its best known coaches and pioneer of an academy concept which influenced the development of talent beyond his own sport.
The 91-year-old American was a force of nature, believed to have been married at least seven times, and helped produce multiple champions from the production line he established in Bradenton, Florida.
Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova were among the many who passed through his coaching system and went on to win a host of Grand Slam titles.
Bollettieri, a law school dropout who had served in the US army, was known for his turbocharged enthusiasm and his permatanned figure became a familiar sight around the great courts of the world.
He had been ill for some time with his family warning of his imminent demise, and he passed away late on Sunday, according to one of his protogees, the Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas.
Nick Bollettieri, a pioneering coach that changed tennis, has died at the age of 91
