TRIBUTES have flooded in to a Wirral sportswriter who has died while covering the Australian Open tennis tournament. 

The Daily Mail confirmed that Mike Dickson was in Melbourne covering the Australian Open for the newspaper when he is understood to have collapsed and died aged 59. 

Dickson joined the Mail in 1990 and covered a variety of sports, most notably cricket, before dedicating himself to tennis in 2007. The paper described the 59-year-old as “Mr Wimbledon” in reporting his sudden passing in Melbourne.

The Mail said he lived in Wimbledon with his family and loved following both Tranmere and Everton having grown up in Wirral.

His wife Lucy announced the news of his passing on X in a joint message with the family.

She wrote: "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."

Tranmere Rovers joined the tributes to the journalist on social media.

The Wirral club posted: “The thoughts of everyone at Tranmere Rovers Football Club are with Mike’s wife and family at this extremely sad time. RIP Mike.”

Writing on X, the Mail Sport, said: "We’re deeply saddened to tell you that Mike Dickson has passed away at the age of 59.

"Dicko was a magnificent tennis correspondent and an outstanding colleague: talented, kind and knowledgeable. Much more than that, he was a brilliant bloke, a class act. It was a privilege to work alongside him and to know him. Our thoughts are with his family at this time."

The Mail’s chief sports writer, Oliver Holt, wrote: “I am so sorry for your loss. Mike was a great man. He was also a wonderful, valued colleague, brilliant, funny, laconic company and a hugely talented journalist who was admired by everyone who worked with him and read his work. x.”

Wirral journalist and broadcaster, Matt Jones, said: "Mike once sought me out in the press box at Prenton Park. He was covering the game for the Mail and I was there for the Liverpool Echo.

"I’d followed his excellent tennis writing for years and was stunned he knew who I was. He just wanted to introduce himself and talk Rovers! From then on, whenever we bumped into each other, he would probe me on Tranmere and I would ask him everything under the sun about Andy Murray and tennis.

"He was always a willing listener and a friendly face. He will be sorely missed, as will his journalism." 

Dickson was also an author and wrote a number of books including the Sunday Times bestseller Bob Willis: A Cricketer and a Gentleman and Emma Raducanu: When Tennis Came Home, a biography charting her remarkable US Open triumph in 2021.