ZAGREB, Croatia — Nikola Pilić, a titan of Croatian tennis and the first captain to lead three nations to Davis Cup triumph, has passed away at the age of 86. He was also instrumental in shaping the career of Novak Djokovic at his academy.
The Croatian Tennis Association announced that Pilić died on Monday.
Pilić was the runner-up in singles at the French Open in 1973 and was a key figure behind the Wimbledon boycott that same year.
He faced accusations from Yugoslav tennis officials for allegedly refusing to compete in a Davis Cup match against New Zealand. Although he denied the allegations, it led to his suspension. While the International Lawn Tennis Federation (now known as ITF) upheld the Yugoslav decision, they reduced his suspension to one month—unfortunately, that included Wimbledon.
Thanks to support from the newly formed Association of Tennis Professionals, a significant protest ensued, with 12 of the top 16 seeds and a total of 81 players opting to boycott Wimbledon.
As one of the standout players before tennis fully turned professional in 1968, Pilić, alongside legends like John Newcombe and Tony Roche, was part of the elite group known as the Handsome Eight, signed to Lamar Hunt’s new pro tour, World Championship Tennis.
With a total of nine singles titles under his belt, Pilić reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 6. His notable runs included a French Open final against Ilie Nastase. He also clinched six doubles titles, highlighted by a memorable 1970 U.S. Open victory alongside Pierre Barthes against the formidable duo of John Newcombe and Rod Laver.
Following his retirement from professional play in 1978, Pilić took the helm as a coach, achieving immense success as a non-playing captain by guiding Germany (1988, 1989, 1993), Croatia (2005), and Serbia (2010) to Davis Cup glory.
His academy near Munich nurtured future tennis stars, including Michael Stich, Goran Ivanisevic, and Djokovic, who referred to Pilić as his mentor.
