Nick Bollettieri: "Djokovic is the most complete player of all time"

[Evan77]

Djokovic does have the most complete game ever. Tell Nadal he's gonna play against Federer and he's thinking "oh this will be easy, just hit his backhand every time". Tell Nadal he's gonna play Djokovic and he's thinking "no idea what to do so I'll just hit to his backhand anyway and pray he plays like Federer"

it's funny but so true.

 

[JustBob]

This from the guy who's Academy (and the Academy system in general) is responsible for producing generations of mindless baseline ball bashers and for the downfall of US elite player development. Bollettieri wouldn't recognize a complete tennis player at 40, let alone at 80...

 

[Clarky21]

This from the guy who's Academy (and the Academy system in general) is responsible for producing generations of mindless baseline ball bashers and for the downfall of US elite player development. Bollettieri wouldn't recognize a complete tennis player at 40, let alone at 80...

Qft.

10char

 

[NadalAgassi]

For those who are saying Bollettieri is so knowledgable we all have to submit to what he is saying (although in this case I think he is somewhat right) Nick is really one of the most overrated coaches ever. Look at the slam champions he coached and how much of their success he had with them:

Andre Agassi- won exactly ONE of his 8 slams with Nick. Left Nick at 23 years old as a massively underachieving 1 slam winner, then blossomed into an all time great under Brad Gilbert.

Mary Pierce- won 1 of her 2 slams under Bollettieri. OK considering Mary is a bit of a nutcase and 1994 was arguably her best year of tennis ever (and parts of 95) he did pretty well with her.

Monica Seles- won 0 of her 9 slam titles while coached by Bollettieri. She rose to being a French Open Champion and soon an Australian Open Champion and World #1 after leaving him.

Boris Becker- won 0 of his 6 slam titles during his two plus year stint being coached by Bollettieri. Reached 1 slam final.

Jim Courier- reached all of his slam finals after leaving Bolletieri.

He is more famous for being famous than anything. He isnt even close to being one of the Worlds best or most successful coaches. He certainly isnt one of the most astute tactically, all his former students say he only cares about fitness and hard baseline hitting, and that was at a time the best players actually did have some all court skills, variation in spins, and point construction. Not only has he barely coached players to any slam titles, but no top pro has ever stayed with him for the majority of their career, most only for a few yeras. Even before he basically semi retired from serious coaching he wasnt in demand anymore for years. After 1997 or so his only noteable player was Tommy Haas, and off and on Mark Philippousis.

There are far more knowledgable people in tennis than Nick Bollettieri who would not back this particular opinion of his. A great tennis player like Andre Agassi, and a former great tennis player/now famed commentator like John McEnroe I am sure knows far more about tennis than an overhyped coach who has barely coached any champions, and Agassi basically called Bolletteiri a fraud, while McEnroe once said Bolletteiri knows nothing about tennis. I am not saying they are right as they probably have some personal grudges that weighted into their comments on him (especialy Agassi), but their opinions still hold more weight than his do IMO. So to say one has to go along with this opinion just because Nick says it is laughable, despite that I actually do agree with it in part in this case.

 

[JustBob]

I said all that in less than 3 lines.

 

[Bobby Jr]

Nick B knows about 1/10th as much about tennis as people give him credit for. He's demonstrating it perfectly with this recent claim.

 

[15_ounce]

Djokovic does have the most complete game ever. Tell Nadal he's gonna play against Federer and he's thinking "oh this will be easy, just hit to his backhand every time". Tell Nadal he's gonna play Djokovic and he's thinking "no idea what to do so I'll just hit to his backhand anyway and pray he plays like Federer"

it's funny but so true.

It didn't work at the final of Year End Championship / World Tour Final in London last year though. Fed hits plenty of winners from his backhands. He just ate Nadal's loopy shots with his backhand. Fed can really get serious at his backhands when he really wants to.

 

[15_ounce]

This from the guy who's Academy (and the Academy system in general) is responsible for producing generations of mindless baseline ball bashers and for the downfall of US elite player development. Bollettieri wouldn't recognize a complete tennis player at 40, let alone at 80...

For those who are saying Bollettieri is so knowledgable we all have to submit to what he is saying (although in this case I think he is somewhat right) Nick is really one of the most overrated coaches ever. Look at the slam champions he coached and how much of their success he had with them:

Andre Agassi- won exactly ONE of his 8 slams with Nick. Left Nick at 23 years old as a massively underachieving 1 slam winner, then blossomed into an all time great under Brad Gilbert.

Mary Pierce- won 1 of her 2 slams under Bollettieri. OK considering Mary is a bit of a nutcase and 1994 was arguably her best year of tennis ever (and parts of 95) he did pretty well with her.

Monica Seles- won 0 of her 9 slam titles while coached by Bollettieri. She rose to being a French Open Champion and soon an Australian Open Champion and World #1 after leaving him.

Boris Becker- won 0 of his 6 slam titles during his two plus year stint being coached by Bollettieri. Reached 1 slam final.

Jim Courier- reached all of his slam finals after leaving Bolletieri.

He is more famous for being famous than anything. He isnt even close to being one of the Worlds best or most successful coaches. He certainly isnt one of the most astute tactically, all his former students say he only cares about fitness and hard baseline hitting, and that was at a time the best players actually did have some all court skills, variation in spins, and point construction. Not only has he barely coached players to any slam titles, but no top pro has ever stayed with him for the majority of their career, most only for a few yeras. Even before he basically semi retired from serious coaching he wasnt in demand anymore for years. After 1997 or so his only noteable player was Tommy Haas, and off and on Mark Philippousis.

There are far more knowledgable people in tennis than Nick Bollettieri who would not back this particular opinion of his. A great tennis player like Andre Agassi, and a former great tennis player/now famed commentator like John McEnroe I am sure knows far more about tennis than an overhyped coach who has barely coached any champions, and Agassi basically called Bolletteiri a fraud, while McEnroe once said Bolletteiri knows nothing about tennis. I am not saying they are right as they probably have some personal grudges that weighted into their comments on him (especialy Agassi), but their opinions still hold more weight than his do IMO. So to say one has to go along with this opinion just because Nick says it is laughable, despite that I actually do agree with it in part in this case.

Nick B knows about 1/10th as much about tennis as people give him credit for. He's demonstrating it perfectly with this recent claim.

Agreed.

Glad he didn't get into the Hall of Fame this year.

 

[Mustard]

Andre Agassi- won exactly ONE of his 8 slams with Nick. Left Nick at 23 years old as a massively underachieving 1 slam winner, then blossomed into an all time great under Brad Gilbert.

Agassi didn't leave Bollettieri. Bollettieri fired Agassi by FedEx soon after 1993 Wimbledon, although Agassi had heard about it in a media report before he had even got the letter. It was a real shock at the time, because Bollettieri had always seemed really taken by Agassi's talent and superstar appeal.

A great tennis player like Andre Agassi, and a former great tennis player/now famed commentator like John McEnroe I am sure knows far more about tennis than an overhyped coach who has barely coached any champions, and Agassi basically called Bolletteiri a fraud, while McEnroe once said Bolletteiri knows nothing about tennis. I am not saying they are right as they probably have some personal grudges that weighted into their comments on him (especialy Agassi), but their opinions still hold more weight than his do IMO. So to say one has to go along with this opinion just because Nick says it is laughable, despite that I actually do agree with it in part in this case.

Yet Agassi and Bollettieri were really close until the split. I wonder why Agassi still has a chip on his shoulder over it since he was a much better tennis player when Gilbert was his coach.

 

[devila]

federina's lucky now to be in the top 5. if he had struggled with wooden rackets against the 1980-1986 era players, he wouldn't have won much on clay and slow hardcourt.
djokovic doesn't need his big serve to dominate.... he still was 1 match away from becoming #2 when he had his embarrassing serve and lack of confidence. federina can't win more than 1 title, as long as he shows off bad tactics and slower reaction time.

 

[Mahboob Khan]

http://www.spox.com/de/sport/mehrsp...al-andy-murray-tommy-haas-sabine-lisicki.html


Google translation from German:

Tennis guru Nick Bollettieri with SPOX speaks about the upcoming U.S. Open. The 80-year-olds about the dominance of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and a recipe for the reasons why Andy Murray is in his opinion, never win a Grand Slam title.
SPOX: Mr. Bollettieri, the U.S. Open just around the corner and Novak Djokovic is 2011 with 57 victories in 59 matches. Kann man überhaupt gegen ihn setzen? Can you even put on him?

Nick Bollettieri: Very difficult. Novak Djokovic is without question the favorite and he is also my tip. My God, the boy has only won five times this year against Rafael Nadal. He suggests the best players in the world - and this at a time when we have a much greater width in the tip than in the 80s or 90s. Shall I tell you something?

SPOX: But please, after all.

Bollettieri: I lean times quite far from the window and say that Djokovic is the most complete player of all time. Strength, speed, technique - no one has ever had such a package like Djokovic. And the main reason why he was so strong, is certain his new training program, including his diet and eating habits (at Djokovic had a gluten intolerance have been observed, Ed). Most people thought he would simply not train hard enough, but since this change, he is physically on a whole new level. The longer the point goes, the longer the match goes, the stronger will be Djokovic. But no one but God wins all the time. We'll see how it goes.

Well, they said the same thing about McEnroe, Connors, Borg, Becker, Sampras, Roger Federer. How about if Federer beats Djokovic in the U.S. Open and goes on to win the final?

 

[RCizzle65]

********. He is getting senile the old orange-farmer!

Look at peak Fed and compare him to Djokovic 2011:

1st Serve: Federer by a mile

2nd Serve: Federer

Return of serve: Djokovic by a mile

Forehand: Federer by a mile

Backhand: Djokovic

Slice: Federer by a mile

Transition from defence to offence: Id say very equal

Volley: Federer

Variation: Federer

Shot selection: Equal

Offense: Federer

Defense: Djokovic by a mile

Overhead: Equal id say

Ability to use the whole court: Equal

Ability to get throw your opponent off rhytm/variation: Federer

Only thing I don't agree with is overhead....Federer puts those away easily, Djokovic still seems shaky when he has to hit an overhead. Especially from the baseline, Federer can still put those away, but Djokovic just puts it back in play.

 

[Agassifan]

Forehand:
Nadal 10
Federer 10

Movement:
Djokovic 10
Nadal 9.5
Federer 9
Murray 9

Is this right now, or in their respective primes? If not the former, LOLOLOLOL

 

[jackson vile]

federina's lucky now to be in the top 5. if he had struggled with wooden rackets against the 1980-1986 era players, he wouldn't have won much on clay and slow hardcourt.
djokovic doesn't need his big serve to dominate.... he still was 1 match away from becoming #2 when he had his embarrassing serve and lack of confidence. federina can't win more than 1 title, as long as he shows off bad tactics and slower reaction time.

I did not think of it that way, even Novak (at his worst) was still good enough to be #3 in the world. Says a lot about how complete he is as he is making up ground else where when his serve and forehand were wavering/failing

 

[Noleberic123]

Interesting.

LOL.

The so called most complete player of all time won't hit double digits at the slams.

Djoko will probably have a career like JMac, Agassi, Lendl level.

Bandwagoning is a funny thing and makes people say ludicrous things as well.

Jmac, Agassi and Lendl x3

 

[Tennfan123]

Tennis player comes to everyone’s attention and getting all the press.

Tennis Svengali goes all hyperbolic over said player to get themselves in the press.

 

[clayqueen]

Nick Bollettieri: Nadal has the talent to be the greatest of all time – but only if his knees are up to it
Wimbledon Files
Monday 05 July 2010 00:00

Nick Bollettieri: Nadal has the talent to be the greatest of all time

Wimbledon Files

www.independent.co.uk