Stan Wawrinka appoints Roger Federer's former coach in search of 'new vision' for Wimbledon

Stan Wawrinka has confirmed the addition of Paul Annacone to his coaching team. The American will work alongside Sunday's (11 June) beaten French Open finalist throughout the forthcoming grass-court campaign, including the third grand slam of the year at Wimbledon.

A former world number 12, Annacone enjoyed a 14-year professional tennis career but is far better known for his post-playing exploits. The 54-year-old coached compatriot Pete Sampras between 1995 and 2003 and later spent three-and-a-half years with Roger Federer. The duo split in 2013 after a partnership that yielded 13 titles with a slumping Federer slipping to seventh in the world.

Annacone has also spent time as a part-time coach for Tim Henman and Sloane Stephens and served as Great Britain's Davis Cup coach under John Lloyd before leaving his position in the aftermath of an embarrassing defeat to Lithuania.

He worked as both head coach and head of British men's tennis at the LTA, stepping down earlier than scheduled in 2010 to avoid a possible conflict of interest with regards to any potential meeting between Federer and Andy Murray.

Announcing the appointment on the day of his emphatic straight-sets defeat to record-breaker Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, Wawrinka wrote on his official Facebook page: "I would like to take this opportunity to announce as of immediately that we have added Paul Annacone to our existing coaching staff to help during the grass court season for the next four weeks.

"Paul's experience speaks for itself having worked with some of the greatest players of all time. His knowledge can only better our understanding of the grass. It's a real privilege and honour to add such a coach to our corner."

Annacone will work with Wawrinka's regular coaches, 2016 ATP award winner Magnus Norman, Yannick Fattebert and fitness trainer Pierre Paganini as the Swiss, who has never been past the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, attempts to complete a career grand slam at SW19 in July. Before that, he is scheduled to play at the Aegon Championships at Queen's Club next week.

"I want to progress, to make strides," Wawrinka, a three-time major champion, added. "I'm very happy with my team, with Magnus, with Pierre, Yannick– all the people who are around me. But we had some discussions in order to get a new vision, to get another view of my game. So that's why we have decided to turn to Paul who has a lot of experience, and I hope that I will be in the right direction."