Biography of Vincent Richards

Vincent (Vinnie) Richards (1903-1959) was a top American tennis player in the early decades of the 20th Century, known as a superlative volleyer. A protege of Bill Tilden, he teamed up with him to win the United States doubles championship in 1918 at the age of 15. He remains the youngest male to have ever won a major championship. Twenty-seven years later, in 1945, he and Tilden won the United States Pro doubles title.

Richards was one of the best singles players of the 1920s and played on several United States Davis Cup teams. He was one of the first players to turn professional and won the United States Pro Championship four times in the 1920s and 1930s.

He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1959.