deep tan and wrap-around sunglasses, was one of the greatest tennis coaches of all time.

His pupils demonstrated his approach to the game which was dominated by powerful groundstrokes hit early and directed down the line and at extreme angles.

Many of Bollettieri's students arrived to Florida from European countries in their early teenage years speaking very little English but dreaming even at early ages of success on the professional tennis tours.

In 1978 Bollettieri founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy on 40 acres of land near Bradenton, Florida as the pioneering tennis boarding school.

Bollettieri sold his academy to a sports management company in 1987 but remained on the academy's coaching staff even until recent years.

Bollettieri, also a public speaker and book author, was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014.