Mike Dickson, the legendary tennis correspondent for the Daily Mail, has tragically died aged 59.
Dickson was a hugely respected and admired journalist who spent 38 years in the industry – including 33 years at the Mail, having started in 1990 – and his loss will be deeply felt by colleagues.
He previously worked as a cricket correspondent for the Mail before switching to tennis and has covered a total of 30 different sports in almost 50 countries during a distinguished career.
Dickson was in Melbourne covering the Australian Open when he died, days away from his 60th birthday, on January 27.
He lived in Wimbledon with his family and enjoyed following both Tranmere and Everton after growing up on The Wirral. His wife Lucy announced the news of his death X in a joint message with the family.
Legendary Daily Mail tennis correspondent Mike Dickson (left), pictured here with Andy Murray, has tragically died aged 59
Dickson is seen here presenting the Ian Wooldridge Award to Roger Federer in 2018
Dickson poses with the Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award he won in 2016
Ed Palmer, who played as a defender for minnows Truro City and worked as a hairdresser, cut Dickson’s hair in an interview with the Daily Mail man
She wrote: ‘We are devastated to announce that our wonderful husband and father, Mike, collapsed and passed away while we were in Melbourne for the Aus Open. For 38 years he lived his dream of covering sports all over the world. He was truly a wonderful man and we will miss him terribly. Lucy, Sam, Ruby and Joe.’
Lee Clayton, Global Publisher for Sport, paid his own tribute, saying: ‘Dicko was everything you would expect from a correspondent: a brilliant newshound, a great writer and a friend to so many in his sport. The tennis world will mourn with us. He was a giant of a journalist.
‘It will be an impossibly difficult time for all of us as we come to terms with this enormous loss. Dicko was a great tennis correspondent, but he also dabbled in any sport, especially cricket, golf and football, supporting colleagues in our team through every challenge, always in such a generous way.
‘He was just a brilliant guy, a class man.
“It was a privilege to work with him and know him.”
And legendary Mail journalist Jeff Powell added: ‘Too talented, too dedicated, too kind, too generous, too good a man, too respected, too fine a colleague, too good a friend, too supreme a tennis writer, a too strong all-rounder. sports reporter and above all too young to leave his wife, his children and his second family behind at this newspaper.
‘A tragic loss. The only consolation is that he died doing what he loved. To be a great player of his profession at a Grand Slam.’
Dickson was a graduate of the National Council for the Training of Journalists at the former South Glamorgan Institute.
Dickson was a hugely respected journalist, by readers and players alike. Here he is seen with Murray along a beach in Miami
Johanna Konta speaks with Dickson during a tournament in Stuttgart in 2017
Following Tranmere Rovers and Everton was one of Dickson’s passions in life
Dickson is pictured here during a youth coaching session at the Elena Baltacha Academy
After cutting his teeth at Chester Chronicle, Wembley Observer and 2CR Radio in Bournemouth, he then joined the Daily Mail.
He spent eight and a half years covering cricket for the newspaper, finishing his innings in 2007 before switching to tennis.
In a blog post at the time, Dickson reflected on his period with a typically entertaining and sharp final entry.
In addition to his work as a journalist, he has also contributed to a number of books, including Bob Willis: A Cricketer and a Gentleman, and wrote Emma Raducanu: When Tennis Came Home, a biography charting her remarkable 2021 US Open triumph.
News of his sudden death will be felt across the tennis world and yesterday Dickson interviewed Raducanu after her first round victory at the Australian Open, the capstone of a brilliant career.
PA Media’s tennis correspondent Eleanor Crooks said: ‘Mike, or Dicko as he was commonly known, was the tennis reporter we all wanted to be. He knew everyone in the sport and was a master at finding the stories that mattered.
‘British tennis journalism is a small world and Dicko was at the heart of it. Great company in press rooms and bars all over the world, he could always be counted on for a joke or an impression. Without him, tennis will be much poorer.’