Nick Bollettieri, the legendary Italian-American tennis coach, passed away after a protracted battle with illness. The 91-year-old was once a champion tennis player’s coach. Nick was the pioneer of the so-called tennis academies. He mentored some of the best players in tennis history, such as Andre Agassi, Jim Courier,  Maria Sharapova, the Williams sisters, and Monica Seles.

Bollettieri didn’t play tennis at the highest level, despite the fact that he assisted many of the game’s greatest players at the time. In high school, the American played tennis. He began his career as a coach in Puerto Rico at the Dorado Beach Hotel. After ten years, in 1978, he opened his own academy in Florida. Nick had an original idea for this. There was no such place where players could stay and improve their game before his academy.