Mike Dickson, a legendary tennis correspondent, reportedly collapsed and died at the Australian Open.

Dickson, 59, passed away on Wednesday.

“Dickson was a hugely respected and admired journalist who spent 38 years in the industry – 33 at the Mail having started in 1990 – and his loss will be felt deeply by colleagues,” Daily Mail reports.

“He previously worked as the Mail’s cricket correspondent before moving over to tennis and covered 30 different sports across nearly 50 countries in total during a rich career,” the outlet added.

Per Daily Mail:

Dickson was in Melbourne covering the Australian Open when he died and a matter of days away from his 60th birthday, on January 27, with the news being announced by his family at around 11:30PM local time.

Henman was visibly upset on Eurosport when paying tribute to Dickson.

‘It’s incredibly sad that he passed away in Melbourne,’ he said, with his voice cracking.

‘He was a great friend of the tennis community and our thoughts go out to his family.’

Nadal meanwhile posted: ‘Very sorry to hear about the passing of Mike who has been following tennis all these years. My thoughts to his family and to our tennis family for the loss. Rest in peace.’

World No 4 Coco Gauff tweeted: ‘I am so sorry to hear this news. Sending my deepest condolences and may he rest in peace.’

Former World No 1 Tracy Austin added: ‘Heartbroken by this shocking news. Enjoyed working with Mike over the years. Sending condolences to his family.’

Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker also paid tribute. ‘Terrible news out of Melbourne! My sincere condolences to the family of Mike Dickson, who passed away this morning…RIP Mike,’ he wrote.

Dickson’s esteemed work covering Wimbledon over the years saw him dubbed ‘Mr Wimbledon, and the tournament’s official X account said: ‘All of us at Wimbledon are deeply saddened to hear this news.

The Telegraph added:

He was due to turn 60 on January 27 but his death was confirmed in a social media post by his wife and children. “We are devastated to announce that our wonderful husband and Dad, Mike, has collapsed and died while in Melbourne for the Aus Open,” said a message via Dickson’s page on X, formerly known as Twitter. “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,” added the message from “Lucy, Sam, Ruby and Joe”.

Dickson, originally from the Wirral, lived with his family in Wimbledon. He had been a regular at major events in tennis, cricket, horse racing and golf for decades.

He had contributed to a host of books too, including the Sunday Times bestseller Bob Willis: A Cricketer and a Gentleman. Among his many friends in sport was Michael Vaughan, the Ashes-winning England captain and Telegraph Sport columnist.

Dickson had been enthusiastically covering the tennis in Melbourne this week, posting on Tuesday “many happy returns to Grand Slam action for Emma Raducanu” after she beat Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-2 “with minimum of fuss”.

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