Before there was John McEnroe and llie Nastase, the original "Bad Boy" of tennis was Cliff Richey. His career was highlighted by a 1970 season where he led the United States to the Davis Cup title, finished as the first-ever Grand Prix world points champion and won one of the most exciting matches in American tennis history that clinched the year-end No. 1 U.S. ranking. However, the tantrums and boorish behavior simply served as a mask for his internal struggle with clinical depression. During his darkest days, Richey would place black trash bags over the windows of his house, stay in bed all day and cry. With the same determination that earned him the nickname "The Bull," Richey fought against his depression-the-toughest opponent of his life.

Through 10 years of recovery, with the aid of antidepressant medication, he began to feel well for the first time. The fight is not over, he says, but he encourages those suffering from depression: never give up. Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion's Toughest Match lends a personal face to an epidemic disease that afflicts one in 20 Americans. Penned with passion and candor, this memoir is a deeply human story of nightmare and redemption. Book jacket.