Who was Nick Bollettieri, The GOAT
We say goodbye to a tennis icon. Nick was a teacher, a friend, and a father. Like many, I will always owe him enormous gratitude.
We say goodbye to a tennis icon. Nick was a teacher, a friend, and a father. Like many, I will always owe him enormous gratitude.
Nick Bollettieri is best known for sixteen students who won Grand Slams and became world number one, Agassi, Sampras, Courier, Serena, Seles, Sharapova, and many others. A very visionary man who helped popularize tennis. First, with group lessons, supporting Arthur Ashe to bring tennis to the inner cities, ensuring everyone understood the importance of growing the grassroots, and finally, creating the first academy, with boarding school, for high performance. He also promoted better-paid coaches, which helped college players see tennis as a profession.
Nick had the same characteristics as his champions. He was arrogant, assertive, and had a magnetic aura. He always surrounded himself with wealthy people who helped him with his athletes and even rescued him in many divorces. He had a poor memory for names and called his many wives dears so as not to be mistaken. Male students called them friends and female athletes darlings. He dressed in very short shorts, no shirt, and always wore suntan lotion, and we cannot forget his very white teeth and his Oakley glasses, which were his signature. But, like all geniuses, he was different, simple, and complex, and no one called him coach. He was simply Nick.
With an admirable spirit of sacrifice, he always put his work and his students above everything else, even his family. A tireless worker, he also enjoyed life to the fullest. He had the friends that fame brought and fulfilled all the fantasies few can dream of. He met prime ministers, actors, actresses, and singers and flew with the Blue Angels. He traveled worldwide, and his work was his passion; he said, “I have never worked a day in my life.” His best-known phrase was, “It’s my way or the highway,” But the bark was louder than the bite; Nick had a big heart, always willing to help.
“Whoever ends up with the most toys is the winner.” So read the plaque behind his desk. And he had them all, nice houses, fancy cars, sports cars of all makes and prices, boats, small and big, clothes, etc. And everything was impeccable; he was obsessed with order and neatness.
Nick loved competition, which he instilled in his promising youngsters. I’ll never forget those blackjack games, craps, backgammon, coin toss, etc. They were held everywhere, airports, hotels, and championships. It was a way to gauge how far they were willing to risk, and it was a way to teach young players how to compete. I was the program director, arriving at the academy at five in the morning, and Nick would arrive at four-thirty. At seven o’clock in the evening, he’d turn out the lights on my court and say, “Gabe, it’s time to go home.” We would play nine holes of golf at noon on Wednesdays and eighteen on Saturdays. It was almost an obligation. He would always beat me when we tallied up who worked the most hours.
Nick understood the importance of marketing, starting with growing his name and image. At every Grand Slam, he looked for ways for people to see and get to know him. For example, Bollettieri would sit at the Four Musketeers fountain during the French Open, where everyone must pass. Then, with a sun reflector, he would tan his face; this was different and attracted attention. During Wimbledon, at the match between Becker and Agassi, in the box for coaches and family members, he sat precisely in the middle of the two. At that time, he was coaching Boris, and Andre did not speak to him. The press had a lot of fun with this unexpected gesture. At the US Open, he would put two of his teachers at the subway exit, and they would tell everyone who passed by that Nick was a few meters ahead, signing autographs and taking pictures. His motto was always, “there’s no bad press; as long as they’re talking about me, I’m winning.”
What made Nick famous? The Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, now IMG. A tennis powerhouse. In the 1980s, it became a hotbed, precisely as the dictionary defines it, a place that encourages rapid growth and was built from the ground up. From this seed we planted, many other high-performance institutions have sprung up in the surrounding area, making Florida one of the best-known tennis destinations in the world. I keep referring to “we” and “our” because that was one of Nick’s secrets: it gave us a sense of belonging and ownership. It was our academy, our program, and our players.
Nick was a great leader and a driving force. He was also a great motivator, a crucial ingredient for a coach. He had charisma, and the players loved him, as did his loyal staff. The place functioned as both a military barracks and a family; we worked every day, including weekends, at his house, where he had a clay court, but after practice, the team would gather to cook the most delicious steaks on the grill. Then, sitting outdoors around a giant wooden table at dinner, the team, coaches, and players would have a great time telling jokes and talking about tennis. Our goal was to make champions, and it was implicit that we had to maintain a culture of hard work, dedication, and efficiency to achieve our dreams and those of our players. It was his philosophy and workhorse.
For over 28 years, I was the Academy Director and Nick’s right-hand man. He gave me the freedom to innovate. In his mind, no one needed an employment contract. They were there because they wanted to be and were passionate about our dream. For many years we all worked alongside him to produce high-performance athletes.
From the beginning, Nick instilled a discipline of warriors throughout the academy. Shared behaviors, values, and beliefs were our culture. We had no written rules, so our standards didn’t need to be on paper. However, they were engraved in our souls and were driven by excellence. It was our collective mindset and that of the entire organization, from assistants, office managers, drivers, coaches, parents, and athletes. It was a hotbed for making champions, and everyone knew it.
We walked, talked, dressed, and worked like champions. It was the norm and the expectation of every coach and every student. We recruited and trained the best talent from around the world. We encouraged and demanded hard work, discipline, and constant creativity. Our unwritten rules, confidence, high goals, preparation, and fun were the foundation. We were constantly competing against ourselves, always looking to improve. The powerful stories we created set us apart, some real, some imagined, and some that, over time, became myths as they were told and retold. And that was the magic of the culture that made Nick Bollettieri an Icon. The number of players who transcended tennis became stars and came out of our academy was a dream come true, and no one will ever repeat that feat.
For tennis lovers, Nick will go down in history for his countless contributions to the sport and for his famous athletes who filled the stadiums with joy. For those lucky enough to be by his side, for the love and care he always gave us.
Today we have lost a giant, and Nick Bollettieri is, without a doubt, “The Goat,” The Greatest of All Time.