Tennis coach Robert Lansdorp - who trained Maria Sharapova and Pete Sampras - has died age 85

The likes of Tracy Austin, Pete Sampras and even Maria Sharapova - all of whom became world number ones at some point - all plied their trade under the tutelage of Robert Lansdorp. The tennis coach was well-known for his drill sargeant approach to training, endlessly going over the same exercises until his students had done them thousands of times.

Now, the tennis coach has died at the age of 85, his family confirmed.

He would train these up-and-coming tennis stars when they were just children, with Austin coming to him at age seven and Sampras at age 10. He would drill them on forehands, backhands and footwork to build an instinctive muscle memory.

Speaking about training Sharapova in an interview with the Guardian in 2005, Lansdorp said: “There were problems with her forehand - she was not very good on hitting 100 balls forehand crosscourt in a row.

“Once I see that ball is hit cleanly, I will have the player repeat that over and over. [It was] just a matter of making her do things that she never liked doing.”

According to Lansdorp’s daughter Stephanie, the legendary tennis coach died in a nursing facility following a cardiopulmonary arrest.