There Will Never Be Another Nick Bollettieri

Also in this week's mailbag: why wasn't Rajeev Ram on the United States Davis Cup Finals squad?

Hi everybody, 

We'll get to your questions shortly, but first:

One of the towering figures in tennis over the last half-century never won a tournament. He never played a pro match. He never even played for his college team. Yet Nick Bollettieri, who passed away Sunday at age 91, applied his own brand of topspin to the sport and impacted tennis as profoundly as any dozen Grand Slam champions put together.

Nick Bollettieri’s story is as colorful and incomparable as his personality. A former Army lieutenant, he dropped out of law school and began teaching tennis. He understood technique well enough. But what he really grasped was motivation; how to use his considerable force of personality to tease out improvement and toughness and character in his students.

After serving as tennis director at various resorts and hotels, he had a thought: why not set up my own shop? The Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, opened in 1978, became the first tennis boarding school. And it changed, forever, the way talent developed. First tennis talent. Then sports talent.

Bollettieri caught the tennis boom, but then he also expanded it. Those blooming in his Florida tennis hothouse included Andre Agassi and Jim Courier. The Williams sisters did their stints as well. And Bollettieri’s also became a destination for international talent: Monic Seles, Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova all left home and crossed and oceans and headed to Bradenton. And apart from the pros, the place nurtured thousands of players who would earn college scholarships.

Tan, toned and often topless, Bollettieri did not always with fit tennis’s self-styled, conservative image. This outspoken, unapologetically self-promoting man— happy to joke about being married seven times— was, shall we say, an acquired taste to some. Consider this: for all his influence, he was not voted into the Hall of Fame until 2014, the week before he turned 83. His own memoir was titled, “My Aces; My Faults.”

His success, though cannot be debated. The list of champions he coached in unrivalled. IMG, the management behemoth, bought Bollettieri’s tennis boarding school in 1987. It became the model for what is now the largest private sports academy in the world. And, deep into his eighties, Bollettieri never stopped coaching, innovating, selling, and speaking.

Nick—he was on a first-name basis, it seemed, with everyone— may not have been a world-class player. But he was a world-class frontman for the sport. A champion for tennis, if not a tennis champion. He will be recalled favorably and affectionately. Impersonations of his raspy voice will persist. He will be imitated—both his irrepressible mode of being and his entrepreneurship. At the moment, though we are left to consider: how is it possible that a tennis figure so full of life, has left us?

Mailbag

Jon, 

You have undoubtedly seen the social media chatter denouncing the failure of Captain Mardy Fish to nominate Rajeev Ram for the U.S. Davis Cup Team (Finals) squad. There is no debate that having had Rajeev on the court for the deciding rubber in the quarterfinal tie against Italy would have put the U.S. squad in a much better position to have prevailed in that tie. There was some conjecture that the omission of Rajeev from the U.S. squad was to somehow cloister the tight knit group of the four players Captain Fish did nominate for the squad. Even if there was some competitive justification for this squad nomination theory, what has not been widely reported is that the 2022 Davis Cup Regulations allowed Captain Fish to nominate “four to FIVE Players” for the 2022 Davis Cup Finals Week (see Regulations Section 36.2.2). For each of the eight participating countries, the Davis Cup Finals squad nomination deadline was October 24, 2022 (see Regulations Section 36.2.1). On this date, Rajeev Ram was the #1 ranked player on the ATP Tour Doubles Rankings! The next highest ranked Americans in doubles at that time were Isner at #21 and Krajicek at #22. I note that, as Chief Executive of Professional Tennis at the USTA, part of Stacey Allaster’s remit is for “setting the strategic vision for the USTA’s pro tennis division” … including “Davis Cup.” Jon, should we be asking Ms. Allaster if not selecting Rajeev Ram, the then #1 doubles player in the world (now #3), for the US Davis Cup 2022 Finals Squad, and instead leaving the fifth Player position on the squad as vacant, is in line with the strategic vision for the U.S. Davis Cup Team?

Jeffrey, NYC

• We were committed to doing WTA and ATP Awards the previous two weeks, so this was obviously a holdover from Davis Cup weekend. To refresh: despite availing himself, despite having played in the qualifying events; despite the existence of an open fifth slot, and, oh yeah, despite having a ranking of No.1 in doubles when the decision was made, Rajeev Ram was left off the U.S. Davis Cup team. The competition against Italy came down to the doubles point, which the U.S. lost. Predictably, this was a source of great second-guessing and criticism. Here’s the USTA’s response to the above question: “We appreciate Jeffrey's passion for our sport, for our Davis Cup Team and for the knowledge of the rules around this international team event. For every tie, our Davis and BJK Cup Captains have to take many factors into consideration, and make very difficult decisions. Mardy's knowledge and expertise from his time as a Top Ten player, who represented Team USA on multiple occasions and his time as our Davis Cup Captain are matched only by his commitment to winning the Cup. We respect his critique, and his passion, but we are 100% supportive of Mardy's decisions regarding the team composition in Malaga.”

Hey Jon,

I am sure you are receiving many e-mails regarding the USA's doubles team loss to Italy at Davis Cup. Has Mardy Fish explained why he didn't pick Rajeev Ram (#3) (or even Austin Krajicek (#10))? Ram and Sock had gone 4-1 in Davis Cup matches in 2022 and 2021 (they also reached the semis in Atlanta this year). Why would Fish not use that fifth pick (team USA was the only team in the final eight to not pick five players)? I kind of like Fritz and Paul defending their coach in light of the justified criticism (see Brayden Schnur's tweets), but they are misguided. Fish needs to come out and explain the thought process behind him not picking a fifth player (specifically a top 10 doubles specialist). Give us your honest take on Fish not picking Ram (or even Krajicek) when Ram himself commented about being surprised he wasn't called up.

Pedro P.

• It’s not only that Ram was the No.1-ranked doubles player in the world when Fish omitted him from the roster. And it’s not only that Ram is precisely the kind of player you want to reward and include—a physically fit, professional, emotionally mature, non-boat-rocking striver who has played his best tennis north of age 35. It’s that Ram didn’t even take up an otherwise occupied roster spot. You can argue about whether to start Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers. But you would never go into an NFL game without a backup on your roster. It was a curious decision in theory. It was brutal in practice. The tie came down to the doubles point. Neither Sock nor his partner, Tommy Paul, looked especially sharp. Through a number of informed sources, I’ve essentially heard the same story and it distills to this: Sock, in particular, made clear—through word and deed—that he wanted to be THE doubles player and was the better fit. Fish wanted to build a core unit. This decision was more about culture than on-court strategy. A captain is entitled—check that: tasked with—making tough decisions. That’s an occupational requirement. That’s also an occupational hazard. Fine. I asked Mardy about all this in advance and, to his credit, he responded right away and answered, without passing off to some operative. But I take issue with his remark afterward that he was asked about his decision “an annoying amount of times.” He’s a sports fan. He understands the rules of the road. If the Minnesota Vikings went into a game without a backup quarterback and then their quarterback were injured, the coach would be called to account for a decision that backfired. This was the equivalent.

Jon,

Can we “raise a glass” to Team Canada for a terrific 2022 season. They started the year by winning the ATP Cup; they were on the winning team of the Laver Cup; and they finished the year by winning the Davis Cup. And I would submit that Canadian MVP honors should go to Felix Auger-Aliassime. In tennis terms, he came of age this year by winning four titles, making the year-end championships, and establishing himself as a solid top ten player.

• Ah, yes, the winners. Consider the glass raised. And judging from this headline—“The party might never end.”—it might still be elevated. Speaking of Canada: I feel like this slipped through the cracks a bit: are we all aware the 2023 Laver Cup will be held in Vancouver?

Jon,

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you. My 13 year-old son keeps Tennis Channel on in at least two of the TV's in our home at all times so we watched a lot of Davis Cup. Beyond the drama that was addressed in last week's mailbag, my observation (and has been the case for many years) is that you just don't see the level of enthusiasm and national pride from the Americans that you often see from countries like Czech Republic, Canada, and Spain. It felt the same watching them go out to Italy last week. Thoughts?

Jon K., Chicago

• It’s funny, someone else made the same point. I wouldn’t read too much into body language. Sometimes it’s personal. Player X is simply more expressive and emotive than player Y. Sometimes it’s situational. Win a first round match deep in the fifth set, with stressvhormones pumping and intensity at level 11, and you fall to the ground and go crazy celebrating. Win a Wimbledon final 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 and it would be weird, borderline unsporting, if you pumped your fist and did backflips.

Jon, 

You mentioned some in your awards columns but give me your top 10 stories going into 2023. Who are you following? What are you looking for?

Sam, London

• Let me try to answer this reflexively in real time, without much of a pause to consider. Which will either give a clear picture or contain a glaring omission. In no particular order.

-- What will tennis look like in the post-Federer and post-Serena era? Neither was much of a factor in 2022 on the court, but that’s still a lot of lost star power.

-- How will the major race, currently, 22-21-20, play out? Federer, obviously, is retired with the bronze medal. But this is still an active conversation.

-- Will Iga Swiatek continue paving her road and, mixing metaphors, leaving everyone else in the dust?

-- Is 2023 the year Coco Gauff wins her breakthrough major?

-- Can Carlos Alcaraz avoid a sophomore slump? This sounds trite, but between his injury and the upcoming spike in commercial demands, he'll surely have some adjustments to make if he wants to keep winning the same frequency.

-- To what extent will the WTA clean up its balance sheets, resist the financial lure of China?

-- Now that the United Cup will, happily, replace the doomed-from-the-start ATP Cup, how will this play out; will it reignite the energy for merging tours? 

-- Does Rafael Nadal find another life?

-- What will the Nick Kyrgios docudrama serve up next?

-- Where is Peng Shuai? No, really. To the outsider looking in, this must be the most bizarre fact pattern. A former stalwart player takes to social media to describe—in great detail; filled with names and specificity and emotion—an alleged assault. The post is scrubbed. As is her social media profile. Her name as a search term is blocked in her home country. Notwithstanding some creepily staged photo ops and videos, she has not emerged. Former colleagues say they’ve had no luck trying to contact her. The WTA’s demand for China to conduct a full and fair investigation has, predictably, been ignored. And….we’ve all moved on.

Hi Jon,

I’m a big Nadal fan, and I’d love to see him win the year-end championship — the only big prize to elude him. I’d also like to see a change in the surface of the tournament. But not to clay; I think it should be medium-pace hard courts or whatever is deemed the most neutral surface. It shouldn’t favor any particular style of play or any player. What do you think?

Chris

• My tangential issue: if it’s article of faith that the majors are the sport’s four coins of the realm…does it not undercut the ATP Finals to hold the event on a surface on which zero majors are held? But yeah, I’ve heard a few players over the years express the same concern. Part of the issue redounds to the calendar. If we are going to hold this event in November, preferably near the sport’s nerve center of Europe—as one would for a year-end lollapalooza—you’re unlikely to hold it outdoors. Part of this is tradition. We don’t rotate the surface for the majors. If you want to win Wimbledon, get better on grass; don’t expect the surface to change. Fun fact: the last time the ATP Finals were held outdoors? Houston 2004. When the event was put on by this guy...Speaking of Houston tennis: “Last year’s finalists at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, champion Reilly Opelka and runner-up John Isner will return April 1-9 for the 2023 ATP Tour event at River Oaks Country Club, the tournament announced today. Fans will again experience the booming serves from two of the tallest players in men’s professional tennis, with Opelka standing at 6-11 and Isner at 6-10.”

Hi Jon,

How is Zverev doing with his rehab? Will he be ready for the start of the new season? Did anything ever happen with his harassment investigation? 

Best Regards, Eric Bukzin, Long Island

• Zverev is in action next week in the Saudi Arabia exhibition. As for what happened to the investigation—and let’s be clear: the allegation is assault.

Greetings from Guadalajara, 

A prediction from me, thankful reader of your great column for many many years: Novak Djokovic will end his career with 25 Grand Slam singles titles (most of all time). Thank you for your thoughts. 

All the best, Carlos Acosta

• Thanks much. That’s kind of you. I think that sounds about right. For a guy who turns 36 this spring—a half-decade older than Sampras when he won his last major; three years younger than Jimmy Connors when he made his stop-the-presses run a to major semifinal—Djokovic is still going strong. In fact, you could argue he’s never played better than he did the second half of 2022. At some point time will, inevitably, do its thing. But we seem nowhere near that point.

Shots, Miscellany

Kings County Tennis League, Inc. (KCTL), a sports-based youth development non-profit, today announced that Joe Ceriello has been appointed Executive Director effective December 12, 2022. Mr. Ceriello is a tennis industry veteran who has held multiple leadership positions during his 13-year tenure with the United States Tennis Association, and spent the last seven years driving marketing and development initiatives at New York Junior Tennis & Learning, one of the first chapters of the USTA Foundation’s NJTL network co-founded by Arthur Ashe. Most recently, Mr. Ceriello served as the NYJTL Chief Marketing and Development Officer and NYJTL Bronx Open Tournament Director.