Former Pete Sampras, Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport coach Robert Lansdorp dies at the age of 85
Robert Lansdorp, the iconic coach who trained Pete Sampras, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport and Tracy Austin, is no more. On Monday, September 16, the 85-year-old's passing was reported by a prominent tennis journalist.
Lansdorp, a California settler having been born in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), remained mostly under the radar up until the late 1970s. However, when 16-year-old Tracy Austin won the 1979 US Open women's singles title, the coach suddenly found himself in the limelight. Austin eventually went on to become the WTA World No. 1 and win another US Open title in 1981.
As the years rolled on, Lansdorp aided the development of future ATP World No. 1 Pete Sampras (14 Major singles titles) and WTA World No. 1s Lindsay Davenport (three Major singles titles) and Maria Sharapova (five Major singles titles). The coach's legendary prominence in the tennis fraternity stems from the 'Lansdorp Forehand', a forehand technique he developed to enable his pupils to hit consistent, flat, and powerful groundstrokes.
For his immense contribution to tennis, the United States Tennis Association (USTA), gave Lansdorp the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Eight years later, he would be further honored as a Team USA coaching legend alongside fellow stalwarts Jack Sharpe, Jerry Baskin, and Nick Bollettieri.
Tennis journalist and analyst Jon Wertheim took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, September 16, and reported that Lansdorp had passed away aged 85.
"RIP Robert Lansdorp, such an underrated tennis figure and stroke architect, who contributed so much to so many top players' games...," Wertheim wrote.
In 2016, Lansdorp stood up for Maria Sharapova amid the Russian coming under fierce scrutiny over the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) probe against her
"No way in hell would Maria Sharapova have taken drugs" - Robert Lansdorp in 2016
Robert Lansdorp, in a 2016 interview with Daily Mail, suggested that Maria Sharapova was innocent amid the WADA probe against the Russian. The probe stemmed from Sharapova testing positive for Meldonium, a banned substance.
"'I don't know the details, but she didn't do it on purpose. It's impossible. There's no way she would cheat. No way in hell would she have taken drugs knowing it was illegal, especially Maria with an image she has - her image is squeaky clean - so she wouldn't take a chance," Lansdorp told Daily Mail.
Sharapova would eventually receive a 15-month suspension following an investigation into the matter by an independent tribunal. The Russian made her comeback from suspension in 2017, but would only play for a few years more before announcing her retirement in 2020.