Tommy Haas
has stated that
Patrick Mouratoglou currently bears the closest resemblance to
Nick Bollettieri as a coach.
Former
tennis player Tommy Haas recently appeared on the 'Court-Side with Beilinson
Tennis' podcast.
Haas, a former world No. 2, joins a long list
of esteemed tennis players who were mentored by the legendary Nick Bollettieri,
including
Boris Becker,
Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis, Venus and Serena
Williams,
Andre Agassi,
Jim Courier,
Marcelo Rios,
Kei Nishikori, and Anna
Kournikova, among others.
Bollettieri
revolutionized tennis education with his Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
(NBTA), which played a crucial role in shaping the careers of numerous tennis
legends. Today, various academies, such as
Chris Evert's,
Rafael Nadal's, and
Patrick Mouratoglou's, have become instrumental in nurturing the development of
tennis players. Haas was asked if there is currently anyone comparable to
Bollettieri.
"Not
really, but not to say there aren't many coaches that are tennis fanatics and
that would try to go in a direction like that," Haas responded.
"I
always want to say Nick (Bollettieri) was one of a kind and we'll never see
anybody like him. I think a lot of people would agree with that. There are so
many iconic things that he was all about, like a trailblazer in many
ways."
Mouratoglou
is precisely one of the coaches who has worked with many renowned tennis
players in the last 20 years, including
Stefanos Tsitsipas,
Coco Gauff, Holger
Rune, and
Simona Halep. Moreover, he spent 10 years coaching
Serena Williams,
helping her secure 10 Grand Slam titles.
"If
you want to compare someone to (Nick Bollettieri) even a little bit these days,
maybe you could say Patrick Mouratoglou is sort of like the new Nick
Bollettieri in some ways, as he has a lot of passion and has built this amazing
tennis academy himself in the south of France," Haas opined.
"He
welcomes everybody that wants to pursue their dreams. In that way, maybe he's
the modern Nick Bollettieri, in some ways."
"I
think Patrick would probably speak very highly of Nick and probably looked up
to him in many ways as well and maybe looked at a few things that he did and
tried to implement them into his life and tried (to replicate it) in his memory
to the best that he can in the coaching world. I think he would probably be the
closest thing to him right now," Haas concluded.