Mark Hodgkinson, former Telegraph Tennis correspondent and author of several books on the sport (including biographies of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Ivan Lendl and Carlos Alcaraz) has died suddenly at just 46.
Absolutely shocked by this news. Mark was a brilliant writer and prolific author, who was incredibly well respected throughout the tennis world. He began his stint with the Telegraph around the time I created this forum, during Murray's breakthrough 2005 season, and I spent my teens and early 20s reading his dispatches from the tour. He had a unique style and a dry wit which came out in his writing.
I was then fortunate enough to get to know him a little when I began covering the tour myself in the early-mid 2010s. I'd bump into him routinely at Wimbledon and the Tour Finals - I vividly remember one conversation where he explained the remarkable story of his first book - Andy Murray: The Full and Extraordinary Story.
He'd been the first British journalist to interview Andy, having heard the word on the street that British tennis had a serious talent on its hands, he'd made the journey to visit him at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona when Andy was just a teenager. Fast forward to 2012 and he'd been able to use that to persuade a publisher to give him a deal to write a biography. Then Andy wins the US Open 2012, and the book needs to be written yesterday - Mark told me how he got a call the morning after that extraordinary 5 set win over Djokovic, saying that he needed to deliver the manuscript within 3 weeks or the deal was off, not an easy job when your typical book is 90,000 words.
The fact that he not only managed it, but produced a wonderful read is a testament to his talent. Having spent 2 years researching and writing my own book, my mind still boggles at how he managed it.
He then went on to write the other biographies dodrade has mentioned as well as numerous others - illustrated biographies with graphics of Serena and Federer, a book about secret weapons of top tennis players, and another book - "Three Kings: The Inside Story of How Djokovic, Nadal and Federer Dominated Men's Tennis" which is being published posthumously this summer.
He also wrote for the Wimbledon website each year, published the ATP Finals magazine when it was in London, and created a website called The Tennis Space, an online magazine which did well for a period.
Strangely, I was thinking about him recently, as the last time we spoke (many years ago), he was asking me whether I wanted to become an author, and discussing the idea of doing a book on my twin subject areas - neuroscience and sport.
Gone far too young...shows how fragile life can be
Absolutely shocked by this news. Mark was a brilliant writer and prolific author, who was incredibly well respected throughout the tennis world. He began his stint with the Telegraph around the time I created this forum, during Murray's breakthrough 2005 season, and I spent my teens and early 20s reading his dispatches from the tour. He had a unique style and a dry wit which came out in his writing.
I was then fortunate enough to get to know him a little when I began covering the tour myself in the early-mid 2010s. I'd bump into him routinely at Wimbledon and the Tour Finals - I vividly remember one conversation where he explained the remarkable story of his first book - Andy Murray: The Full and Extraordinary Story.
He'd been the first British journalist to interview Andy, having heard the word on the street that British tennis had a serious talent on its hands, he'd made the journey to visit him at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona when Andy was just a teenager. Fast forward to 2012 and he'd been able to use that to persuade a publisher to give him a deal to write a biography. Then Andy wins the US Open 2012, and the book needs to be written yesterday - Mark told me how he got a call the morning after that extraordinary 5 set win over Djokovic, saying that he needed to deliver the manuscript within 3 weeks or the deal was off, not an easy job when your typical book is 90,000 words.
The fact that he not only managed it, but produced a wonderful read is a testament to his talent. Having spent 2 years researching and writing my own book, my mind still boggles at how he managed it.
He then went on to write the other biographies dodrade has mentioned as well as numerous others - illustrated biographies with graphics of Serena and Federer, a book about secret weapons of top tennis players, and another book - "Three Kings: The Inside Story of How Djokovic, Nadal and Federer Dominated Men's Tennis" which is being published posthumously this summer.
He also wrote for the Wimbledon website each year, published the ATP Finals magazine when it was in London, and created a website called The Tennis Space, an online magazine which did well for a period.
Strangely, I was thinking about him recently, as the last time we spoke (many years ago), he was asking me whether I wanted to become an author, and discussing the idea of doing a book on my twin subject areas - neuroscience and sport.
Gone far too young...shows how fragile life can be
I didn't know Hodkinson at all - never read the Telegraph and I didn't know his books - but this eulogy is a lovely message, Sheddie, and I will look him up.
46 is shockingly early to die and with a young family, my sympathy to his family and all who knew him
