MIAMI - Nick Bollettieri, the larger-than-life coach whose famed Florida tennis academy changed the face of the game by producing some of its greatest players, has died at the age of 91, with ex-student Tommy Haas leading tributes to the “one of a kind” American.

The son of Italian immigrant parents, Bollettieri served in the United States army and dropped out of law school to become a coach, shaping the careers of top names including Andre Agassi, Serena and Venus Williams, Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova. Jim Courier, Anna Kournikova and Mary Pierce also passed through his Bradenton complex.

A pioneering mentor who coached 10 world No. 1s, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014.

“Thank you for your time, knowledge, commitment, expertise, the willingness to share your skill, your personal interest in mentoring me and giving me the best opportunity to follow my dreams,” Indian Wells tournament director and Germany’s former world No. 2 Haas wrote on Instagram.

“You were a dreamer and a doer, and a pioneer in our sport, truly one of a kind.”

Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, the 2013 Wimbledon runner-up, said that Bollettieri had “shaped the game of tennis”.

“You have given so many children a place to work for their dream. Supporting them with your knowledge and the belief that anything is possible. I was fortunate to be one of them,” Lisicki wrote on Twitter.

“You will be dearly missed!”

Bollettieri’s daughter Angelique Anne had announced on Facebook last month that her father was nearing the end.

“Dad is close to transitioning to the next place. Please keep him in your thoughts for a peaceful departure and wonderful journey. We love you, Daddy,” she wrote.

Patrick Mouratoglou, another noted coach who also worked with Serena Williams, said the tennis family had lost an important figure in Bollettieri.

“Someone who has made our industry grow and has opened opportunities for coaches and players,” he said. “We will remember the very special human being you were and will miss you.”

“RIP Nick Bolletieri. Aside from being the greatest coach ever, you were so kind to me, my parents, and my siblings ... that meant more to me than anything, you had a big heart and a zest for living,” said former women’s No. 1 Chris Evert.

Not everyone liked his methods

Reports in American media said Bollettieri died on Sunday but his enthusiasm for coaching continued almost right up to the end.

“Even in his last days, you could often find him on campus, coaching and mentoring young student-athletes and staff with the same passion and enthusiasm as he did in his 20s,” said Tim Pernetti, president of IMG Academy Bradenton, a division of IMG Academy.

“Even in his last days, you could often find him on campus, coaching and mentoring young student-athletes and staff with the same passion and enthusiasm as he did in his 20s.

“Our heart goes out to his wife, Cindi, and his children. He has made a permanent and lasting impact on all of us.”

Bollettieri founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy – now IMG Academy – in 1978 with a focus on intense physical training, total immersion, and ongoing competition among the most talented players in the world.

The demanding routine for children and adolescents living and training at his academy produced results but also drew criticism. His relationship with some of his successful proteges, including Agassi and Seles, eventually soured.

“I hated it at Bollettieri’s academy,” said Agassi. “The only way I could get out was to succeed.”

Bollettieri, though, remained unrepentant.

“I did what had to be done. Tennis is not a sport for choirboys,” Bollettieri said.

Repeat the shot 30,000 times

Bollettieri was born in Pelham in the New York suburbs on July 31, 1931. He studied philosophy at a small Catholic college in Alabama, saying later that was when he started playing tennis regularly.

After serving in the US Army in Korea, he started a law degree in Miami but dropped out to become a professional tennis coach.

At one stop, in Wisconsin, he coached the young Brian Gottfried, who went on to become the world No. 3 in 1977, giving Bollettieri some visibility.

In 1978, he founded his own tennis academy in Florida with Carling Bassett, who turned 11 that year, as his first residential student.

He worked his players hard.

In 1980, Sports Illustrated headlined a piece about Bollettieri: “He’ll Make Your Child A Champ, But It Won’t Be Much Fun”.

Bollettieri believed in repetition.

“To change a shot,” he said, “you have to repeat the same shot about 30,000 times in training. That’s the rate, the union minimum.”

‘Knowing the people’

Bollettieri also insisted he developed character.

“I’m proud most of all of how these boys became men – not just great tennis players, but even better people. Look at all the things they’ve done,” he told Tennis.com

Combining more than four hours of training with school kept the youngsters busy from dawn to dusk, five days a week with half days on Saturday. They were not allowed to drink, smoke, chew gum, swear or engage in public displays of affection.

His method succeeded for some but broke others.

By the 1990s, he had become a star coach – his tanned, weathered face and signature sunglasses appeared at all the major tournaments.

“I am the best coach in the world. I have no doubt about it,” he boasted in a 1994 book.

He liked to call himself the “Michelangelo of tennis,” said the Tennis Hall of Fame on his induction in 2014.

Bollettieri understood that he needed to produce top-level players to market his business, but that strategy ended with his selling to sports talent agency IMG.

“I went after the best students both in the US and overseas and gave them all scholarships, because it was those players who attracted the paying customers,” he told Tennis World.

“The only trouble was that I handed out so many scholarships that the business ran out of money, so in 1987 I sold the academy.”

He kept coaching and his approach kept delivering talent.

Atop Bollettieri’s Twitter feed is a photo taken in 1989 with his “Young Bucks” – Martin Blackman, Courier, David Wheaton and Agassi.

“God blessed me with the ability to read people,” he told Tennis Now.

“At one time... we had Seles, who would work two and three months just to master one shot. We had Courier, who would work like a work-horse on the court and at night he’d beat the drums. We had Agassi, who if I got 10 minutes a day to work with, I was lucky.

“I think that the teaching of the game is relatively simple, but knowing the people and how they react is important.” REUTERS, AFP