By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday January 5, 2020
Bob Brett guided many of the game's greats in a career that spanned over four decades. He passed away Tuesday at the age of 67.
Photo Source: Getty
Bob Brett, a legendary Australian coach who was mentored by Harry Hopman and who guided legends like Boris Becker, Goran Ivanisevic and Marin Cilic, has passed away after a battle with cancer. He was 67.
Brett, who founded the Bob Brett Tennis Academy in San Remo, Italy, toiled for over four decades on tour in a journey that had humble beginnings in the late sixties, when an autograph-seeking Brett, a teen at the time, landed a gig as a ball boy for the American Davis Cup team as a result of persistence.
Nearly a decade later, Brett would arrive in Long Island where he began a tutelage under Hopman and, eventually, took charge as the coach of a group that included Andres Gomez, Ricardo Ycaza and Raul Viver on a six-month trial. The rest, as they say, is history.
After working with the likes of Mats Wilander, Johan Kriek, Tim Mayotte and Guy Forget, Brett coached Becker from 1987 to 1991, Ivanisevic from 1991 to 1995 and then had stints with Andrei Medvedev, Nicolas Kiefer and Mario Ancic before pairing with Croatia’s Cilic for nine years, beginning in 2004.
Brett also worked with the Japanese Davis Cup Team from 2003 to 2006 and held a high performance post with Tennis Canada from 2006 to 2008 and at the British Lawn Tennis Association from 2014-15, where he was the Director of Player Development.
Brett won the ATP’s Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award for 2020 just two months ago.
On social media, the tennis community is sending up an outpouring of love and respect for Brett the coach and, perhaps more important, Brett the human being.
“I am very saddened by the passing of my long-time coach and mentor, Bob Brett,” Marin Cilic wrote in Instagram. “He was a big inspiration to me and to many, many others. People who knew him, knew that he lived to the fullest - always pushing boundaries, always looking for excellence for himself and everyone around him - leading you to find your full potential. His enthusiasm, desire to be better and his passion have been inspirational. I will always be grateful and thankful for the years we spent together, the friendship we shared, and the many tennis & life lessons he taught me. My deepest condolences to his daughters Caroline & Katarina and the rest of the family. Dear Bob, rest in peace and I hope you are in a better place now.”
“We knew this was going to be a tough battle, but it’s still shocking to lose you so young!” wrote Ivanisevic on Instagram. “We shared so much, the good and the bad, and you have been the one who taught me the most in my career. Your legacy will continue to live forever as the tennis world will never forget what an amazing person and coach you were. Sincere condolences to your loved ones.”