Richard Dell (born 1947) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from the United States.

Biography

Dell, who won a gold medal at the 1965 Summer Universiade in the men's doubles with

Allen Fox Allen E. Fox (born June 25, 1939) is an American former tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s who went on to be a college coach and author. He was ranked as high as U.S. No. 4 in 1962, and was in the top ten in the U.S. five times between 1961 ...

, attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1965 to 1969. A member of the varsity tennis team, Dell was the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Singles Champion in 1969. As he was beginning a law degree at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

his number was called out in the Vietnam War draft. Following basic training, Dell became a squash and tennis coach at the

United States Military Academy at West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. He created history in 1967 when he took part in the longest ever doubles match. Partnering Dick Leach at the

Newport Casino Invitational The Newport Casino Invitational was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts between 1915 and 1967 at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island. The event was first held in 1915 when the U.S. Open (tennis), U.S. National Champion ...

, the pair defeated Tommy Mozur and Lenny Schloss, 3–6, 49–47, 22–20. On the

Grand Prix tennis circuit The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with t ...

he won two titles, both in the doubles with

Sherwood Stewart Sherwood Stewart (born June 6, 1946) is a former professional tennis player who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. Stewart was ranked as high as No. 60 in the world in singles on the ATP Rankings on December 31, 1978, and No. 4 in doubles on J ...

. They won their first title together in Tokyo in 1972 then a second in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 1974. As a singles player he made the second round of the US Open on three occasions and came close to getting a win over

Rod Laver Rodney George Laver (born 9 August 1938) is an Australian former tennis player. Laver was the world number 1 ranked professional in some sources in 1964, in all sources from 1965 to 1969 and in some sources in 1970, spanning four years befor ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 1973 when he was a set and a break up. He had his most noted singles performances on tour in 1974, when he upset John Alexander at a WCT tournament in Washington DC and made the semi-finals in Chicago, after beating

Raúl Ramírez Raúl Ramírez (born 20 June 1953) is a Mexican retired professional tennis player. He was active during the 1970s and 1980s. Ramírez was the first player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing th ...

in the quarter-finals. At the

1975 Wimbledon Championships The 1975 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 23 June until Saturday ...

, Dell and Stewart made it to the third round of the doubles, where they took former champions

Bob Hewitt Robert Anthony John Hewitt (born 12 January 1940) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. In 1967, after marrying a South African, he became a South African citizen. He has won 15 major titles and a career Grand Slam in both men' ...

and

Frew McMillan Frew Donald McMillan (born 20 May 1942) is a former professional male tennis player from South Africa who won five grand slam doubles titles including three Wimbledons with Bob Hewitt. All together, he won 63 doubles titles, surpassed only by ...

to five sets. Dell retired from tennis in 1977 and took up a coaching job in

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

. He returned to the University of Virginia in the 1980s and completed a Doctor of Law. For many year he was the agent of

Gabriela Sabatini Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine-Italian former professional tennis player. A former world No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Sabatini was one of the leading players from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, amassing 41 ...

, while working for

ProServ Professional Services Inc., (ProServ) was one of the first sports management firms. Initially focused on tennis, the company would grow to become among the world's largest sports marketing, athlete management, event production, and TV companies. ...

, a company founded by his elder brother

Donald Dell Donald L. Dell (born June 17, 1938) is an American sports attorney, writer, commentator, and former tennis player. Dell was the first sports agent in professional tennis, and represented Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl duri ...

Grand Prix career finals

Doubles: 2 (2–0)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dell, Dick 1947 births Living people American male tennis players Tennis players from Washington, D.C. Michigan Wolverines men's tennis players University of Virginia School of Law alumni American sports agents Date of birth missing (living people) United States Military Academy people Army Black Knights men's tennis coaches Universiade medalists in tennis Universiade gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1965 Summer Universiade American tennis coaches