Tributes have been paid to Mike Dickson, the Daily Mail’s long-serving tennis correspondent, who has died at the age of 59.
Dickson, an Everton fan who grew up on the Wirral, joined the Mail in 1990 after cutting his teeth at the Chester Chronicle following his graduation from the National Council for the Training of Journalists at the former South Glamorgan Institute.
He initally joined the national as a cricket correspondent before switching to tennis in 2007, and covered at least 30 different sports across nearly 50 countries during his rich career. Dickson was in Melbourne covering the Australian Open when he passed away.
Dickson’s wife Lucy announced the news on Twitter in a message that read: “We are devastated to announce that our wonderful husband and Dad, Mike, has collapsed and died while in Melbourne for the Aus Open.
“For 38 years he lived his dream covering sport all over the world. He was a truly great man and we will miss him terribly. Lucy, Sam, Ruby and Joe.”
Tributes soon followed from the worlds of journalism and sport alike: