Another star on Annacone's coaching resume

Since his playing days ended in the mid-Nineties, Paul Annacone has found himself associated with the best players in the game. He coached Pete Sampras after the death of Tim Gullikson, and Sampras ended up with 14 major titles; Annacone was the coach for nine of them.

Now he's coaching Roger Federer, whose 16 majors eclipsed Sampras' record. The pair hooked up right after Wimbledon this summer.

Annacone, the East Hampton product, also has been the director of player development for the USTA, the coach of England's men's team and coach of English standout Tim Henman, who has retired.

That's a pretty dazzling resume for a player of modest accomplishment on the tour, who won three times but was best known for reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1984 in his first professional tournament. He lost to Jimmy Connors on Centre Court.

But he's managed to hook up with the top players in the game, building a career as a coach who listens as much as he gives advice. Now he's coaching another legend.

"He wants to get better," said Annacone of the man who has played better than anyone in history. "It says a lot for his drive and character that he wants to get better."

So what is Annacone's assignment?

"He's got the deepest tool chest out there," Annacone said. "The key is to get the most out of it. Much of [what I do] is strategic, style-of-play sort of thing."

Federer has wowed Annacone for most of the decade. When he beat Sampras in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2001, Annacone was convinced that Federer would be a legendary player, even though he didn't win his first major until two years later.

"I remember thinking then that he had all the skills to do whatever he wanted to do," said Annacone, who splits time between East Hampton and Los Angeles. "He was the epitome of the complete player. There wasn't anything he couldn't do."

Annacone remembers that Sampras, toward the end of his career, was getting tired of it all. The travel, the practice, the media and sponsor obligations, the grind of the tour had worn him down.

"Pete at the end of his career was more and more aggressive, coming forward so much more," said Annacone, who attributed that aggressiveness to impatience, to wanting to get it over with.

He finds Federer still has an intense drive to be the best, and an intense love of the game.

"It's pretty incredible with all that he has achieved he loves to play tennis," said Annacone, who seems equally thrilled to again be at the right hand of tennis history.