There are plenty of coaches who have what it takes to turn promising tennis talent into real champions.

But only one has permanently managed to become as famous as his model students and thus become a global brand himself.

The "Bollettieri style" and the "Bollettieri way" have always been talked about since the early 1990s, when a tennis pro once again managed to successfully go through the tough school of the former first lieutenant in the US Army and win a major title .

Thomas Klemm

sports editor.

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Anyone who had that Nick Bollettieri behind them at the tennis academy for a while could no longer be shaken so easily, they were steeled for the extraordinary.

"Only those who hate a defeat more than they are happy about a win will achieve something", was the credo of the American coach, who was worshiped by many like a guru - and died this Sunday at the age of 91. as the IMG Academy has now announced.

The Bollettieri style, that means above all: powerful serve, extremely strong forehand, fast on his feet, mentally almost unshakable.

American Jim Courier became the first to climb to the top of the world rankings three decades ago, with Bollettieri's help.

This was followed by dozens of other professionals who are among the greatest in their guild and have won tons of Grand Slam titles: Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Serena and Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Monica Seles.

Tommy Haas and Sabine Lisicki, initially coached by their fathers, also went under Bollettieri's wing.

"Thank you for your time, your knowledge, your dedication, your expertise, your will and your personal interest in my career," wrote Haas, now 44 years old and tournament director of Indian Wells, on Twitter about his mentor: "You were a dreamer and a doer, a pioneer in our sport, you were one of a kind." Lisicki posted a photo of herself and Bollettieri with the message: "Rest in peace dear Nicki".

after seeing the death of his

The son of Italian immigrants borrowed a quarter of a million dollars in 1978 to buy a motel with a tomato field next door in Bradenton and built a boarding school there that was unique at the time, offering school and sports training in a package.

Anyone who didn't get a scholarship to the Bollettieri Academy, which IMG acquired in 1987, had to shell out up to $100,000 a year.

For this he was properly sanded.

“Blood, sweat, tears” were all part of it, according to Bollettieri, himself an early riser and fitness-mad.

Not everyone gets the drill, Agassi even described the camp in Florida as a "torture chamber".

Now the tennis world is mourning the loss of its most famous grinder.