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. 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. Since the 2018 season Annacone has been coaching
Taylor Fritz. ==Personal life==