Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion's Toughest Match

Chronicling the tumultuous life of the original?bad boy?of tennis, this engaging memoir describes one man’s public battle with clinical depression. Cliff Richey was best known for the 1970 season in which he won the Grand Prix, the Davis Cup, and was first in the American tennis ranking. He was also well known for his tantrums and boorish behavior that served to mask an internal, dark struggle. Describing torturous days in which he would place black trash bags on the windows and lay in bed crying for hours, this brutally honest narrative stresses that depression is a mental disorder that can affect anyone. Documenting his 10 year fight for control of his mind, aided by antidepressant medication, the determination and strength that afforded him the nickname of ?The Bull” is highlighted. Expressing the joy of feeling stable for the first time in his life, this deeply moving story of nightmare and redemption serves to encourage and inspire anyone whose life is touched by mental illness.

Cliff Richey was ranked the number-one professional tennis player in the United States in 1970, the most valuable player of the victorious 1970 U.S. Davis Cup team, and has won 45 tournament titles over the span of a 26-year career. He currently plays on the celebrity golf tour and organizes charity tournaments to raise mental health awareness. He lives in San Angelo, Texas. Hilaire Richey Kallendorf, PhD,?is an associate professor of Hispanic studies at Texas A&M University and?the author of Conscience on Stage and Exorcism and Its Texts. She lives in College Station, Texas. Jimmy Connors is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all-time. He won five U.S. Open singles titles and stands alone as the only player to win the U.S. title on three different surfaces (grass, clay, and hard court). He was No. 1 in the world for 263 weeks.