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Tommy Haas thinks tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou is the closest thing there currently is to the legendary Nick Bollettieri.
Nick Bollettieri is considered the greatest tennis coach of all time and is known for setting up the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy (NBTA) in Bradenton, Florida.
During the 'Court-Side with Beilinson Tennis' podcast, Haas was asked if there is someone in the current tennis world that could be compared to Bollettieri.
"Not really, but not to say there aren't many coaches that are tennis fanatics and that would try to go in a direction like that," Tommy Haas responded. "I always want to say Nick (Bollettieri) was one of a kind and we'll never see anybody like him. I think a lot of people would agree with that. There are so many iconic things that he was all about, like a trailblazer in many ways."
Patrick Mouratoglou has been a coach since 1999, working with the likes of Serena Williams, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Coco Gauff, Simona Halep, and Holger Rune.
His academy has been running since 1996, starting near Paris and later relocating to the outskirts of Nice. Mouratoglou's players won a combined number of 31 singles titles, including ten Grand Slam trophies, all coming from Serena Williams.
Tommy Haas highlighted Mourtatoglou's passion for the sport and mentioned that he could be compared to Bollettieri.
"If you want to compare someone to (Nick Bollettieri) even a little bit these days, maybe you could say Patrick Mouratoglou is sort of like the new Nick Bollettieri in some ways, as he has a lot of passion and has built this amazing tennis academy himself in the south of France," said Haas. "He welcomes everybody that wants to pursue their dreams. In that way, maybe he's the modern Nick Bollettieri, in some ways."
"I think Patrick would probably speak very highly of Nick and probably looked up to him in many ways as well and maybe looked at a few things that he did and tried to implement them into his life and tried (to replicate it) in his memory to the best that he can in the coaching world. I think he would probably be the closes thing to him right now," Tommy Haas concluded.
Nick Bollettieri passed away on December 4, 2022 (aged 91).
Patrick Mouratoglou back in Holger Rune's team for Italian Open
Mouratoglou has most recently been the coach with the young Dane Holger Rune, with the pair splitting up on April 3 after 'successfully completing their mission'.
But just over a month later, Patrick Mouratoglou was once again seen in Rune's team during the Italian Open, where he helped him beat Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. Whether this relationship is temporary or if it will once again become permanent is currently unknown.
Rune is set to face Norwegian Casper Ruud in the semi-finals of the 2023 Italian Open on May 19.
