Paul Annacone

He is the former coach of 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras, and 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens. Annacone is currently a coach at ProTennisCoach.com, a commentator at Tennis Channel, and works with Taylor Fritz.

Paul Annacone

Paul Annacone
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Born	(1963-03-20) March 20, 1963 (age 61) Southampton, New York
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Turned pro	1984
Retired	1998
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
College	University of Tennessee
Prize money	$1,645,515
Singles
Career record	157–131
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 12 (March 3, 1986)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (1987)
French Open	3R (1988)
Wimbledon	QF (1984)
US Open	3R (1985, 1990)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	1R (1985)
WCT Finals	QF (1986)
Doubles
Career record	267–177
Career titles	14
Highest ranking	No. 3 (April 6, 1987)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1985)
French Open	QF (1985)
Wimbledon	SF (1986)
US Open	F (1990)
Coaching career (1995–)
Pete Sampras 1995–2002 Tim Henman 2003–2007 Great Britain Davis Cup team 2008–2010 Roger Federer 2010–2013 Sloane Stephens 2013–July 2014 Stan Wawrinka 2017 Taylor Fritz 2018 – present
Coaching achievements
Coachee singles titles total	37
Coachee(s) doubles titles total	2
List of notable tournaments (with champion) 1995 Davis Cup champion (Sampras) Pete Sampras career statistics (from 1995) 2003 BNP Paribas Masters (Henman) 2004 Monte Carlo Masters (Henman doubles) 2010 ATP World Tour Finals (Federer) 2011 ATP World Tour Finals (Federer) 2012 Wimbledon (Federer)
Coaching awards and records
Awards Coach Jim Verdieck Touring Pro Coach of the Year 2007 Records Pete Sampras#Records and achievements (from 1995)

Player

High school

As an eighth grader, Paul played first singles for Shoreham-Wading River High School and was undefeated in league play. Annacone graduated from East Hampton High School in 1981.

College

After graduating from East Hampton, the 6'1, 175 lbs. Annacone played three years of college tennis for the University of Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference over 1982–84. He was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Player of the Year in 1984. Annacone played 51–3 in singles while winning the ITA Indoor Singles Championship that year. He was named all-SEC and all-American all three years of his college career with the Volunteers, amassing a 115–22 career singles record.

Professional

The right-handed Annacone achieved his career best singles ranking in 1985 of world No. 12 and US No. 6. A serve-and-volleyer who would often chip and charge when returning serve, Annacone played on the ATP tour until 1992, amassing a career singles win-lose record of 157–131 in Grand Slam, Grand Prix, and ATP Tour events. He won three singles titles during his career and was a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 1984. ^{[citation needed]}

Annacone won more as a pro playing doubles, capturing 14 tournaments and achieving a high ranking in 1987 of world No. 3. With long-time partner Christo van Rensburg, Annacone won the 1985 Australian Open doubles title. Teamed with David Wheaton, Annacone was a 1990 US Open finalist, as well.

Coaching

 

Annacone achieved even greater success as Pete Sampras's long-time coach. Initially hired to coach Sampras while his current coach Tim Gullikson recovered from a brain tumour, Gullikson educated and mentored Annacone on how to coach Sampras for fifteen months while he battled with brain cancer.

The two worked together from January 1995 until December 2001, and again from July 2002 until Sampras' retirement. From December 2001 to January 2003 Annacone was Managing Director of the United States Tennis Association High Performance Program. He coached Tim Henman, beginning at the Paris Masters in 2003 (which Henman won) until the end of Henman's career in September 2007.

Annacone became the Lawn Tennis Association's Head Coach in November 2006. He also became Great Britain Davis Cup team coach in April 2008, following the resignation of Peter Lundgren, while staying on with the LTA. Under his control the team lost in the 2008 Davis Cup World Group play-offs against Austria. The following year they got relegated to Group II. In May 2010, Annacone announced his official departure from November 2010 onwards from the LTA and the British Davis Cup team after losing to Lithuania in Group II first round.

Paul Annacone was hired by Roger Federer to be his full-time coach on August 28, 2010 after a successful one-month trial period. Annacone led Federer to two straight year-end championship in 2010 and 2011, a return to the world No. 1 ranking, and his seventh Wimbledon Championships.

In 2006 Annacone released the Paul Annacone Tactical Tennis DVD Series; a 4-DVD collection that demonstrates the strategies used by the pros in actual match situations. Attack the All-Court Player, Beat the Baseliner, Know Your Own Game, and Neutralize the Net-Rusher present numerous scenarios along with drills and practice games for improving match-specific strategy on both sides of the net.

In 2013, Annacone became a resident coach at ProTennisCoach.com – an online professional coaching site.

In November 2013, it was announced that Annacone had begun working with American rising star Sloane Stephens on a trial basis. She was ranked the world's number-12-player at the time. However, the two ended the relationship in July 2014.

Annacone is also involved with PlaySight Interactive, a sports technology company, where he works together with Darren Cahill on the Coaching and Player Development team.

In 2017, Annacone joined Stan Wawrinka's team for the grass court swing. For the 2018 season Annacone coached Taylor Fritz.

Both of Annacone's parents were educators. His father was a superintendent at schools for thirty five years, as a professor and a teacher. His mother was a guidance councillor. Three more mentors were his brother, who is a coach and teacher, Nick Bollettieri and Mike DePalmer Sr. All five of these people played a unique role in shaping Annacone's success as a coach.

Paul's son Nicholas attended his father's alma mater. His daughter, Olivia, attended the University of California, Los Angeles.

Annacone resides in Woodland Hills, California with his wife, Elisabeth Annacone, and son Emmett. He was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island in the Tennis Category with the Class of 1996.

Singles: 6 (3–3)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Apr 1985	WCT Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	6–7(2–7), 6–7(5–7), 2–6
Win	2.	Sep 1985	Los Angeles, California, U.S.	Hard	Stefan Edberg	7–6(7–5), 6–7(8–10), 7–6(7–4)
Win	3.	Oct 1985	Brisbane, Australia	Carpet (i)	Kelly Evernden	6–3, 6–3
Loss	4.	Oct 1985	Melbourne, Australia	Carpet (i)	Marty Davis	4–6, 4–6
Loss	5.	Jul 1988	Stratton Mountain, U.S.	Hard	Andre Agassi	2–6, 4–6
Win	6.	Oct 1989	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Kelly Evernden	6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–1, 2–6, 6–3

Doubles: 30 (14–16)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	Oct 1983	Cologne, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Eric Korita	Florin Segărceanu   Nick Saviano	3–6, 4–6
Loss	2.	Jul 1984	Livingston, U.S.	Hard	Glenn Michibata	Scott Davis   Ben Testerman	4–6, 4–6
Win	3.	Dec 1984	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Grass	Christo van Rensburg	Tom Gullikson   Scott McCain	7–6, 7–5
Win	4.	Feb 1985	Delray Beach, U.S.	Hard	Christo van Rensburg	Sherwood Stewart   Kim Warwick	7–5, 7–5, 6–4
Win	5.	Apr 1985	Atlanta, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Christo van Rensburg	Steve Denton   Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 6–3
Loss	6.	Apr 1985	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Christo van Rensburg	Pat Cash   John Fitzgerald	6–7, 7–6, 6–7
Loss	7.	Jul 1985	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Christo van Rensburg	Peter Doohan   Sammy Giammalva Jr.	1–6, 3–6
Loss	8.	Sep 1985	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	Christo van Rensburg	Scott Davis   Robert Van't Hof	3–6, 6–7
Win	9.	Sep 1985	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Christo van Rensburg	Brad Gilbert   Sandy Mayer	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	10.	Nov 1985	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Christo van Rensburg	Mark Edmondson   Kim Warwick	3–6, 7–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	11.	Jan 1986	WCT World Doubles, London	Carpet (i)	Christo van Rensburg	Heinz Günthardt   Balázs Taróczy	4–6, 6–1, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6
Loss	12.	Aug 1986	Stratton Mountain, U.S.	Hard	Christo van Rensburg	Peter Fleming   John McEnroe	3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	13.	Feb 1987	Key Biscayne, U.S.	Hard	Christo van Rensburg	Ken Flach   Robert Seguso	6–2, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	14.	Mar 1987	Orlando, U.S.	Hard	Christo van Rensburg	Sherwood Stewart   Kim Warwick	6–2, 6–7, 4–6
Win	15.	Mar 1987	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Christo van Rensburg	Mike De Palmer   Gary Donnelly	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Win	16.	Apr 1987	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	Kevin Curren	Andrés Gómez   Anders Järryd	6–4, 7–6
Loss	17.	Jul 1988	Schenectady, U.S.	Hard	Patrick McEnroe	Alexander Mronz   Greg Van Emburgh	3–6, 7–6, 5–7
Win	18.	Oct 1988	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet (i)	John Fitzgerald	Jim Grabb   Christo van Rensburg	6–2, 6–2
Loss	19.	Oct 1988	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	John Fitzgerald	Kevin Curren   Jim Grabb	5–7, 4–6
Win	20.	Feb 1989	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Christo van Rensburg	Scott Davis   Tim Wilkison	7–6, 6–7, 6–1
Win	21.	Feb 1989	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Christo van Rensburg	Rick Leach   Jim Pugh	6–3, 7–5
Loss	22.	Mar 1989	Scottsdale, U.S.	Hard	Christo van Rensburg	Rick Leach   Jim Pugh	7–6, 3–6, 2–6, 6–2, 4–6
Loss	23.	Sep 1989	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Christo van Rensburg	Pieter Aldrich   Danie Visser	4–6, 3–6
Loss	24.	Oct 1989	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Kelly Evernden	Jan Gunnarsson   Anders Järryd	2–6, 3–6
Win	25.	Jul 1990	Toronto, Canada	Hard	David Wheaton	Broderick Dyke   Peter Lundgren	6–1, 7–6
Loss	26.	Aug 1990	US Open, New York	Hard	David Wheaton	Pieter Aldrich   Danie Visser	2–6, 6–7(3–7), 2–6
Loss	27.	Jul 1992	Newport, U.S.	Grass	David Wheaton	Royce Deppe   David Rikl	4–6, 4–6
Win	28.	Apr 1993	Atlanta, U.S.	Clay	Richey Reneberg	Todd Martin   Jared Palmer	6–4, 7–6
Loss	29.	May 1993	Coral Springs, U.S.	Clay	Doug Flach	Patrick McEnroe   Jonathan Stark	4–6, 3–6
Win	30.	Oct 1993	Beijing, China	Carpet (i)	Doug Flach	Jacco Eltingh   Paul Haarhuis	7–6, 6–3