ZAGREB, Croatia — Croatian tennis nice Nikola Pilić, the primary captain to steer three international locations to Davis Cup glory and who educated Novak Djokovic in his academy, has died. He was 86.
The Croatian Tennis Affiliation mentioned Pilić died on Monday.
Pilić was a French Open singles runner-up in 1973 and the catalyst for the Wimbledon boycott that 12 months.
Yugoslavia tennis officers accused Pilić of refusing to play a Davis Cup tie towards New Zealand. He denied it however was nonetheless suspended. The Worldwide Garden Tennis Federation (now the ITF) supported the Yugoslav determination however diminished his suspension to 1 month — however that included Wimbledon.
As a result of Pilić was supported by the brand new Affiliation of Tennis Professionals, 12 of the 16 prime seeds and a complete of 81 gamers boycotted Wimbledon.
Pilić was already a star when tennis turned absolutely skilled in 1968. When U.S. businessman Lamar Hunt backed a brand new skilled tour referred to as World Championship Tennis, the likes of Pilić, John Newcombe and Tony Roche have been the primary eight males’s gamers signed — referred to as the Good-looking Eight.
Pilić received 9 singles titles and reached a highest singles rating of No. 6. He misplaced the French Open ultimate to Ilie Nastase. His six doubles titles included the 1970 U.S. Open with Pierre Barthes towards Newcombe and Rod Laver in a four-set ultimate.
After his taking part in retirement in 1978, Pilić coached and received the Davis Cup as a non-playing captain with Boris Becker’s Germany (1988, 1989, 1993), Croatia (2005) and Serbia (2010).
Future stars who handed by means of his academy close to Munich included Michael Stich, Goran Ivanisevic and Djokovic, who referred to as Pilić his mentor.
