ARKANSAS SPORTS HALL OF FAME: Richard Akel held his own on court

Tennis saved Richard Akel's life.

As an 10-year-old in 1973, Akel arrived at Burns Park Tennis Complex in North Little Rock with his mother Lamia.

Lamia Akel wanted a professional tennis coach to work with her son, who said he needed an outlet to harness his energy as a child.

Larry Walton was the man for the job.

"She said, 'Alright, he's yours,'" recalled Walton, a former tennis coach at Burns Park. "He turns out good, you get half the credit. If he doesn't turn out good, you get all the credit."

Akel, 57, turned out to be one of the state's best tennis players and is one of nine inductees in this year's Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame class.

"That's a pretty special award," Akel said. "I'm very thankful to be in something like that, to be honest with you, especially with the group I'm going in with."

In 1980, Akel was the first Arkansan to win the Southern 18s Closed tournament. Before winning the tournament, Akel had won the consolation bracket in the 18s and the Southern 16s. He was a two-time state champion at Little Rock Catholic before transferring to Little Rock Hall for his senior season in 1979-80.

Walton said Akel, who was 5-foot-8 when he played junior tennis, had the will to win.

"There was nothing he wanted to do other than win," Walton said. "He intended to do that when he went on the court.

"That was a Richard Akel attitude."

Akel's coach Darrel Snively called his hand-eye coordination exceptional.

"You can't really teach it," Snively said.

Akel played college tennis at Clemson, choosing the Tigers over LSU, Florida and Southern California, among others.

The University of Arkansas and then-Coach Tom Pucci did not recruit Akel.

"Back then, times were different than they were today," Akel said. "I've still stayed here today. I don't know why I wasn't recruited by Arkansas. I don't really know why. We've never really had the discussion. I was recruited by some major schools, except Arkansas. Clemson was one of the top schools in the nation, so it was a great choice."

Pucci's decision still bothers Snively almost four decades later.

"He was really centered on building a team with foreign players," Snively said. "It was a shame he overlooked Richard."

At Clemson, Akel helped the Tigers win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship three times. He was the No. 2 singles player at Clemson in 1983, and he and Gregg Cooper were ranked 11th in the nation as a doubles team that same year.

While he was successful at Clemson, Akel and his coach Chuck Kriese didn't always see eye to eye.

"We had a very love-hate relationship," said Akel of Kriese. "We're very good friends. But at the time, we were both very, very intense."

After three seasons at Clemson, Akel turned professional and was ranked as high as No. 345 in singles and No. 182 in doubles. Akel played in all four Grand Slam tournaments -- the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. -- before being forced to retire in 1985 because of a left elbow injury.

When asked about his professional career, Akel said he remembers the traveling the most.

"I traveled everywhere alone," Akel said. "The people I met all over the world were incredible. My biggest thrill was meeting the different people. I stayed in hostels. I stayed in people's homes.

"That was my biggest high."

In stories in the Arkansas Democrat and the Arkansas Gazette in the 1970s and 1980s, Akel was described as temperamental, which he doesn't deny.

"Even losing a point -- not even losing the match -- I was getting mad," Akel said. "Over time, I learned how to control those emotions. I'd win a match easily, but I'd break a racket because I'd lose a point I shouldn't have lost. My emotions were running extremely wild."

Snively said it was a challenge to rein in Akel at times.

"I would just call him feisty," Snively said. "He would throw a racket every now and then.

"He was a very extroverted person. I'm more of an introvert."

Despite his attitude at times, tennis always brought Akel back to reality, Snively said.

"Any coach in athletics will tell you it takes three things to make it and be successful -- opportunity, drive and talent," Snively said. "Richard was born with the talent."

Since his tennis career ended in the mid-1980s, Akel entered the business world. He owns Akels Carpet One locations in Little Rock, Sherwood, Bryant and Conway.

The carpet business has been enjoyable for Akel, he said.

"I love it," Akel said. "Retail is a very simple model, in terms of if you're going to love it or not. You've got to love people. I love people. This is what I do, man. I just love them. I believe this is who I am. I don't like being alone. I like saying hi to somebody and have a conversation because everybody has a great story."

Walton appreciated working with Akel.

"There was nobody like him," Walton said. "We had a lot of good players, but nobody was like him. He hit a forehand harder than anybody hit a forehand. You would have to get out of the way."

Akel has no regrets about how his tennis career turned out.

"When you give something at 110 percent every day, getting hurt is OK because you can look in the mirror and say, I gave it all I got,' " Akel said. "If you can look in the mirror and you gave 50 percent, you have regrets, right? I didn't have any regrets.

"I went for it. To this day, I can't bend my left arm. It's incredible, right? It has not healed. But I have no regrets. Zero, which is good."

Sports on 03/19/2019