25 January 2017 | Tennis Australia

New York Times correspondent Christopher Clarey has won a new Australian Open media award, which honours the memory of Alan Trengove, who passed away in September.

The Alan Trengove Award for Excellence in Tennis Journalism celebrates one of the greatest tennis writers in the history of the sport, both in Australia and internationally.

Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1990, Trengove started his journalism career in 1945 and went onto become Australia’s leading tennis writer.

Founder of Australian Tennis Magazine in 1976, Trengove was immersed in tennis, covering Davis Cups and major championships during the heyday of the sport in Australia, mingling with and reporting the feats of Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Frank Sedgman, Rod Laver, John Newcombe and a dynasty of greats caught up in the split between amateur and professional ranks.

He covered more than 130 Grand Slam tennis tournaments from 1953 to 2010.

The Alan Trengove Award for Excellence in Tennis Journalism celebrates a number of attributes including integrity, balanced reporting, a genuine love of tennis and a flair for sports writing.

“Chris Clarey embodies the qualities we believe embody the spirit of Trengove,” said Australian Open Tournament Director and Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley.

“Like Alan, Clarey is a great and deeply ethical writer who cares about the history of the game and has demonstrated a commitment to the Australian Open, Australian tennis and the sport in general.”

Clarey has covered Grand Slam tennis since 1990. He started his journalism career in San Diego, and in 1991 moved to France working as a freelancer and later joined the International Herald Tribune as a sports correspondent in 1998. He has written for the New York Times since 1991 and is one of the world’s leading authorities on tennis.

Alan Trengove was awarded the Association of Tennis Professional’s Ron Bookman Award for Media Excellence in 2008, presented at Wimbledon by the late executive chairman and president Brad Drewett.

He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1990 and recognised for his contribution to the sport of tennis at the 2005 Australian Sports Commission Media Awards.

From 1985 to 2000, he was a Member of the International Tennis Federation’s Media Commission, and in 2000, was accredited to the Sydney Olympics for the Australian Tennis Magazine, making him one of a few sportswriters to be accredited to both the 1956 and 2000 Olympic Games.