Obituary: Bob Brett
The ITF was saddened to learn of the death of Bob Brett, the Australian tennis coach who worked with a series of top players and established a tennis academy in Italy. He died of cancer at the age of 67 on Tuesday 5 January.
Born on 13 November 1953, Brett was greatly influenced by the work of legendary Australian Davis Cup captain Harry Hopman. He was a ball boy to the Australian Davis Cup squad in his youth, before moving to the United States at the age of 20 to work with Hopman at Port Washington Tennis Academy in Long Island, New York.
With his stock rising, Brett worked with a number of the best players of the era during the late 1970s and 1980s – among them were the likes of Johan Kriek, Tim Mayotte and Mats Wilander, as well as fellow Australians Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee.
His greatest achievements, however, came in a three-and-a-half year stint working with Boris Becker. When the pair linked up in 1987, Becker was already a multiple Wimbledon champion – but it was under Brett’s stewardship that he reached even greater heights. Becker won both the Wimbledon and US Open titles in 1989 and the Australian Open title in 1991, which saw him rise to the top of the world rankings for the first time in his career.
Brett moved on shortly after this triumph and soon began coaching Goran Ivanisevic, a partnership that saw the Croatian reach two Wimbledon finals and win nine Tour-level titles over four years. Brett also enjoyed successful coaching spells with Andrei Medvedev, Nicolas Kiefer and Mario Ancic, before working with future US Open champion Marin Cilic for nine years.
In addition to his work with players at the elite end of the sport, Brett’s expertise was also sought by a number of national tennis associations. He assisted the Japanese Davis Cup team from 2003 to 2006 and continued working at camps in Japan throughout much of the 2010s. He also held positions with Tennis Canada (as a high-performance consultant from 2006 to 2008) and at the Lawn Tennis Association in Great Britain, where he was Director of Player Development in 2014-15.
Just two months ago, Brett was the recipient of the ATP’s Tim Gullikson Career Coach Award for 2020 – the unanimous choice of the selection panel.
The tennis community was quick to pay tribute to Brett after news of his death was made public.
“Extremely saddened by the passing of Bob Brett, with whom I have collaborated during 6 years and who has taught me so much in my early years as a coach,” Patrick Mouratoglu, coach of Serena Williams, wrote on Twitter. “One of the best coaches I have met. Rest in peace.”
Roger Rasheed, who has coached, among others, Lleyton Hewitt, Grigor Dimitrov and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, also paid tribute. “Very saddened to hear of Bob Brett’s passing, outstanding individual who gave so much to so many,” he wrote. “Loved traveling the globe talking every facet of the tennis world with Bob. A passionate caring individual. Thoughts with the Brett family.”
Away from tennis, Brett’s friend Daley Thompson, the British decathlete, wrote of his sadness. “A friend of mine Bob Brett died today. Others will tell you what a great coach he was, I’ll say that he was a good friend, great company and always smiling,” he said. “To his family my thoughts and condolences.”
Brett is survived by his daughters, Katarina and Caroline.