Last Wednesday the tennis world was shocked to learn that Mike Dickson, aged just 59, had collapsed and died in his hotel room after posting his day’s copy on the Australian Open to the Daily Mail’s sports desk, his demise coming just a few days before his 60th birthday on January 27.
‘Dicko’, as he was known amongst fellow journalists, was at the top of his profession, well respected by his colleagues and the players themselves as the tributes which flooded in, attest.
He had been a journalist for the past 38 years, 33 of them with the Daily Mail, covering 30 different sports across nearly 50 countries.
His wife Lucy said in a statement: “For 38 years he lived his dream covering sport all over the world. He was truly a great man and we will miss him terribly. Lucy, Sam, Ruby and Joe.”
He grew up on the Wirral and lived in Wimbledon, south-west London, a five-minute walk from the All England Club, an organisation he had huge respect for but was never slow to criticise publicly if the occasion warranted. He was also known as ‘Mr Wimbledon’.
Before joining the Daily Mail he trained as a reporter at regional level on the Chester Chronicle and then the Wembley Observer and did a stint on radio in Bournemouth.
At the Mail his talent became very evident and he was posted to various sports, at first majoring on cricket and a bit of golf plus the Barcelona Olympics and eventually became their Tennis Correspondent.
Educated at Shrewsbury School he won the ATP’s Ron Brookman Award for making a significant contribution to tennis.
He had an eye for a story and would pursue it indefatigably, often scooping his colleagues by never taking his finger off the sports’ pulse.
A long -standing member of the Lawn Tenns Writers’ Association (now known as the British Tennis Journalists’ Association) he served on the Committee for the past three decades which he chaired twice.
He is a sad loss to the sport and will certainly be missed.
As Tim Henman said: “He was a great friend of the tennis community and out thoughts go out to his family.”
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