March 10, 2011

 

While partaking in competition in Florida on Monday and Tuesday, one of the Missouri Tigers had the opportunity of a lifetime. The Tigers' Mahdi Besovic was lucky enough to snag a photograph with Nick Bollettieri, one of the most influential people in the tennis world, while competing at the IMG/Bollettieri Academy March 7 and 8. 

Missouri Coach Steven Stuckenschneider was fortunate enough to speak with Bollettieri over coffee while in Florida. Bolletteri mentioned how he was, "very happy to have the University of Missouri at the IMG/Bollettieri Academy." 

"...very happy to have the University of Missouri at the IMG/Bollettieri  Academy." Nick Bollettieri

Mahdi met Nick Bolletieri

Bollettieri first founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy (NBTA) in Florida in 1978. The academy was the first of its kind.  According to Bolletteri's official website, "The NBTA was the first full-time tennis boarding school to combine intense training on the court with a custom-designed academic curriculum." Bollettieri is known for coaching world class athletes including: Agassi, Sampras, Becker, Courier, Hingis, Jankovic, Rios, Seles, Sharapova, Haas, Kournikova, Arias and Vaidisova, and Venus and Serena Williams and many more. 

Bollettieri is a tennis legend and continues to coach in Florida. Currently, while running into Besovic, he was training and working with a girl who will be participating in the French Open next month. This was a grand opportunity for our Missouri Tigers.