Famous tennis coach Bob Brett dies of cancer at age 67

Bob Brett (YouTube)

Famous tennis coach Bob Brett of Melbourne, Australia passed away on Tuesday at the age of 67 of cancer according to Marc McGowan of the Herald Sun. Brett coached tennis for half a century. Among the players he coached included Boris Becker and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany, Goran Ivanisevic and Marin Cilic of Croatia, Andrei Medvedev of Russia, Johan Kriek of South Africa, and fellow Melbourne natives Paul McNamee and Peter McNamara.

Brett was with Kriek when he won his first of two consecutive Australian Open titles in 1981. In the final, Kriek defeated Steve Denton of the United States 6-2, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.

Brett was then with Becker from November of 1987 to February of 1991. During that time, Becker won three of his six career grand slam finals. The major wins came at the 1989 Wimbledon (Becker defeated Sweden’s Stefan Edberg 6-0, 7-6, 6-4), the 1989 United States Open (Becker defeated Czechoslovakia’s Ivan Lendl 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6), and the 1991 Australian Open (Becker defeated Lendl 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4). Interestingly, Becker and Brett parted ways shortly after Becker won in Melbourne.

Brett emphasized counting drills, work, repetition, and the mental aspect of tennis in his coaching techniques. Over the years he also worked as a consultant in the Canadian and Japanese tennis associations. Brett needs to be praised for helping make Canada in the superpower that they are today in tennis, and helping Kei Nishikori develop his overall tennis skills. In addition to coaching the game’s tennis stars, he had his own tennis academy in San Remo, Italy.

In other tennis news, Switzerland is withdrawing from the 2021 ATP Cup. That is because Switzerland great Roger Federer is still recovering from a knee injury. The world number five announced last month he will not be at the 2021 Australian Open either.

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