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Wilson ‘jumps the net’ to join tennis federation

New role: Steve Wilson
New role: Steve Wilson

Steve Wilson, the Associated Press’s long-time London-based European sports editor, has “jumped the net”, as one of his colleagues put it, to join the International Tennis Federation,  the world body for the sport, as its executive director of communications and international relations.

Wilson has covered 15 Olympic Games for AP and has been a member of the International Olympic Committee press commission since 1991, contributing to the setting of policy for media coverage and logistics at the Games. He has been the president of the Olympic Journalists’ Association since 2014, and a regular in the press box at Wimbledon most years.

“I am excited to join the ITF and combine tennis, a sport that I have covered for 30 years, with the wider Olympic movement where I have seen the impact of the sport on the Games,” Wilson said.

David Haggerty, the president of the ITF, which is based in London, said in announcing the appointment: “Over the last 25 years, Steve has built a reputation within the international sports movement as a highly skilled communicator with an extensive knowledge of the sports industry and those who operate within it… Communication both internally within the ITF and the tennis family as well as externally with the broader sports and Olympic Movement is vital to us achieving our goals and I have no doubt Steve will play a vital role in helping us achieve our mission.”

Wilson will take up the ITF post on January 9, when he replaces Barbara Travers, who is retiring after working as the ITF head of communications since 1999.