Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Source work yields exclusive: $6M aid for tennis players

worked sources to score a 24-hour beat on all competition, reporting that a $6 million fund was being set up to help more than 800 lower-ranked players who are going broke during the pandemic. Fendrich’s story went unmatched until the official announcement, getting wide play, including ESPN.com and Tennis.com, and was the subject of a panel discussion on Tennis Channel.https://bit.ly/35UvPBQhttps://bit.ly/2YZwoJl

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Europeans unravel massive tennis-fixing ring

for getting exclusive details from the French police on a growing tennis match-fixing scandal in Europe. Leicester revealed the names of four players being held and details of the investigation into the “Maestro,” an Armenian based in Belgium who is the alleged ringleader of a gambling syndicate suspected of fixing hundreds of matches and paying off more than 100 players from around Europe.https://bit.ly/2WiPfuShttps://bit.ly/2FNlJbV

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Inside the lines: AP chronicles San Quentin prison tennis program

gained exclusive access to a tennis program in California’s San Quentin State Prison, producing a distinctive enterprise piece on sports behind bars.Bay area sports writer McCauley, a former college tennis player, had been invited to play tennis with inmates and requested permission from prison authorities to write about the program, which pairs inmates with a player from the outside community. She and photographer Vásquez were allowed into California’s oldest prison twice — McCauley as a player and reporter, and Vásquez to capture images of the program and the inmates’ stories.The result was an engaging account of a sports program seeking to build a stronger sense of community among inmates, as well as the connections they forge with players from the outside the prison.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP Exclusive: Federer reflects on twilight of his career

for scoring a rare, lengthy and exclusive all-formats interview with 38-year-old tennis great Roger Federer in which Federer – who repeatedly faces questions about how long he will continue on tour – said he does not consider it important to walk away at the top of his game and the top of his sport. The sit-down in Dubai during Federer’s pre-season training resulted in numerous text stories and an 8-minute video package. Fendrich has been covering tennis for AP for nearly two decades and Federer thought of Fendrich when he decided to do an exclusive interview with a U.S. or British outlet. https://bit.ly/2PUBUbe

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Source work pays off on Federer’s Australia withdrawal

has known Roger Federer’s agent since 2005 and kept in touch with him in recent months amid fevered speculation on social media about the tennis star’s return from two knee operations that sidelined him for most of 2020.The source development paid off: When Federer told his agent that he had decided not to compete in the Australian Open in early 2021, the agent texted Fendrich to give him the news first — even before Federer formally withdrew. Fendrich’s exclusive moved 2 1/2 hours before the tournament director announced Federer’s withdrawal, generating worldwide play. AP was widely credited, including by a leading competitor. https://bit.ly/3niLfak

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Grand Slam tournaments are getting hotter, AP analysis shows

AP analyzed data from recent decades to uncover that the temperature has risen at the tennis Grand Slam tournaments by an average of 5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1988, increasing the likelihood of heat-related illness and withdrawals.Read more