TNT Sports
Tennis mourns Parsons
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Published 27/04/2004 at 11:35 GMT+1
Tim Henman led the tributes led the tributes to John Parsons last night. The Daily Telegraph correspondent for 23 years, considered the doyen of tennis reporters, died in hospital aged 66, having been taken ill at last month's Miami Masters.
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The British number one called Parsons "the grandfather of tennis". He was respected and adored by everybody on the tour and had covered more than 40 Wimbledons.
"He followed my career from the start, when I was playing short tennis at the age of seven or eight. And because we were both from Oxford, there was always a special relationships between us," said Henman.
Tennis writers observed a minute's silence on Tuesday prior to a press conference to announce this summer's Wimbledon prize money.
Great Britain Davis Cup captain Jeremy Bates paid tribute to Parsons as one of the most respected voices on the sport.
"His loss is a devastating one for the whole industry," said Bates.
"He was fair, honest and very supportive of all we tried to do in British tennis."
The day before he became ill, Parsons was told he had received the prestigious Ron Bookman Award for Media Excellence for the second time for his service to tennis.
"I have never known a correspondent more conscientious, nor more knowledgeable than John Parsons," said the Telegraph's sports editor David Welch.
"His thorough understanding of the tennis world contributed hugely to the sporting reputation of this newspaper and replacing him will be far from easy."
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