Cliff Richey played amateur and professional tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 in the 1960s and 1970s. He is the brother of fellow player Nancy Richey

Nancy Richey

Nancy Richey is a former tennis player from the United States.Richey won two Grand Slam singles titles and four Grand Slam women's doubles titles . She was ranked World No...

.

Richey was a member of the American team which won the 1970 Davis Cup

1970 Davis Cup

The 1970 Davis Cup was the 59th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 53 teams would enter the competition, 31 in the Europe Zone, 11 in the Americas Zone, and 11 in the Eastern Zone....

, and was voted the most valuable player.

Career highlights

• Number one ranked professional tennis player in the United States (1970)
• Most Valuable Player on the victorious Davis Cup national team (1970)
• 2 time Davis Cup Champion (1969) (1970)
• Won the first World Point Title (Pepsi-Cola Grand Prix) (1970)
• 45 tournament titles over the span of a 26-year career (1964–92) including:
  • Canadian Open (1969)
  • South African Open (1972)
  • U.S.Indoors (1968)
  • U.S.Claycourts (1966, 1970)
  • South American Championships (1966, 1967)
  • Western Open (1965, 1966, 1969)
  • Legends Senior Tour Championships (1983)
  • CBS Tennis Classic (1974)
• U.S. Open semifinalist (1970, 1972)
• French Open Semifinalist (1970)
• Founding member, Association of Tennis Professionals (1972)

PERSONAL LIFE:

GOLF HIGHLIGHTS

• Founding member, Celebrity Players' Tour (1997)
• Played celebrity golf tour for 15 years (1992–2007)
• Won tour events in Jamaica (2004) and Baltimore (2006)
• Scratch golfer(74.5 career stroke average; career best round 63)

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS FUNDRAISING/ACTIVISM

• Cliff organized tennis and golf tournaments to benefit charities:
• Angelo Catholic School (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990)
• James Phillips Williams Memorial [Dyslexia] Foundation (1991, 1992, 1993)
• Mental Health/Mental Retardation (1999)
• United Way (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
• Nominated for Frank M. Adams Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service (2000)

PUBLIC LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS

• Keynote presentation, Texas state convention for executive directors of MHMR (2000)
• Community legislative forums (1999, 2000)
• Invited lectures to college campuses and psychology classes (2006, 2007, 2008)
• Keynote address, MHMR banquet (Palestine, TX, 2000)
• 2010 Mental Health America/TX Boots, Bells, and Hearts award
• 2010 Texas Council of MHMR's Annual Conference, Keynote Speaker, Woodlands TX.
• 2010 NAMI National Convention, Breakfast Presentation
• Fourteen city speaking/book tour with new book Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion's Toughest Match, 2010 (available Amazon.com)
• 2010 Lecture at the Grand Rounds, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University to Faculty and trainees
• 2010 Keynote speaker Montana State Convention on Mental Illness, Billings, Montana