When you think of tennis coaches, you think of Nick Bollettieri.
The 86-year-old, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014, has coached numerous No. 1-ranked players including Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, Jim Courier and Monica Seles.
USOpen.org caught up with Bolletieri Saturday to chat about all things tennis and the US Open:
USOpen.org: What has been the most interesting part of this US Open to you?
Nick Bolletieri: The most interesting part is that the fans can see the practice. They can see matches. The new facilitiies, it's fantastic.
USOpen.org: What has been the biggest surprise to you?
Bolletieri: The biggrest surprise of course is that the USTA is continuing to improve the site and to do more for the fans. That's what's important. Not just for the game, but do more for the fans that make this all possible. And of course I'm delighted to come here and work with the kids who are able to say, 'Nick will you take an autograph?' Anybody who turns down a child, that's wrong.
USOpen.org: How exciting has it been for you to see how your former pupil, Maria Sharapova, has been doing at this US Open?
Bolletieri: Maria came to me when she was a little girl with her daddy. And I'll tell you her new book just came out, the story of coming, the impact that made on her life and she's my little girl. I'm going to say something: this tournament needs Serena, needs Maria, needs Roger. They need things like this. And Maria's brought a lot of excitement to the tournament. And by the way, I've already gave Serena's little girl a scholarship.
USOpen.org: Can you give us one prediction for the rest of the tournament?
Bolletieri: It's very difficult to predict the ladies' draw, and that's the first time in many years. When Serena isn't here, it opens the door for a lot of things. I think what's interesting this year is the amount of seeds that come and are knocked out, which shows that the top seeds today have no easy draw.
Now in the men's draw, hey, who knows, baby? Everybody would like Roger, there's no question about it. But you've got a lot of other young players and I'd like to say this: the United States is beginning to have a great crop of young boys and young girls. I'd like to thank Martin Blackman, a former student of mine, and Katrina Adams for the outstanding job that they're doing.
