Tennis mourns passing of Brett

BOB Brett, one of tennis’ most respected coaches and a former director of player development at the Lawn Tennis Association, has died of cancer.

The Australian, who was 67, shaped the careers of Goran Ivanisevic and Marin Cilic and guided Boris Becker to three grand slam titles and the world number one ranking.

Brett had a short-lived playing career but found his calling as a coach and learned the trade under one of coaching’s greatest names, Harry Hopman.

He initially worked with a group of players including 1981 Australian Open champion Johan Kriek, Mats Wilander, Guy Forget, John Lloyd, Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee and his growing reputation attracted the attention of Becker.

After parting ways with the German in 1991 he worked with Ivanisevic for four years, during which the Croatian reached two grand slam finals, and also enjoyed success with Andrei Medvedev, Nicolas Kiefer and Mario Ancic.

Brett set up his own academy in San Remo, Italy, in 2002, and two years later Ivanisevic brought a 15-year-old Cilic from his home town of Split to the Australian’s base.

Brett worked with Cilic for the next nine years alongside spells helping the Japanese federation and Tennis Canada.

Brett was brought to the LTA in 2014 following chief executive Michael Downey’s move from Canada to Britain but was not a natural fit behind a desk and he left the following year with the country’s high-performance programme in disarray.

On the court, though, Brett’s legacy cannot be disputed and he was awarded the Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award in the 2020 ATP Awards.

The LTA was among those paying tribute, saying “The LTA was saddened to hear of the passing of Bob Brett, one of the sport’s most respected coaches.

“Bob supported the LTA in the role of player development director from 2014-2015 and during a career that spanned almost five decades he achieved so many successes, including guiding some of the game’s greatest players to reach their highest potential.

“Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this difficult time.”

Judy Murray wrote on Twitter: “Bob Brett gave me so much of his time + advice over so many years + I will always be very grateful for his words of wisdom + encouragement.”

Martina Navratilova also paid her respects, writing: “Bob Brett fought long and hard - he was a good man - RIP Bob - please keep coaching up there.”