BOARD MEMBERS' BIOS

Stephen Bierley (GBR) joined The Guardian from Reuters in 1979 and has been the newspaper’s tennis correspondent since 1996. He also has covered every Summer Olympics since 1988.

Dominique Bonnot (FRA), a tennis reporter for L’Equipe since 1998, began writing about the sport at age 17 for “Tennis de France,’’ Philippe Chatrier’s monthly magazine. Her husband, Pierre Michel Bonnot, is a rugby and golf reporter at L'Equipe.

Chris Bowers (GBR) is a freelance writer and broadcaster who has covered the tennis circuit for various media since 1992. He also runs Tennis Radio Network, a tennis media services company with three other journalists. Since 2006 he has been ITWA treasurer.

Bonnie D. Ford (USA) covers tennis and Olympic sports for ESPN.com. She has specialized in international sport since 1994 and previously worked for several U.S. newspapers including the Chicago Tribune. Her husband Bob Ford is a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Sandra Harwitt (USA) is a freelance writer who has worked for The New York Times, The Miami Herald, ESPN.com, Associated Press, Reuters and Tennis Magazine. A past co-president of the U.S. Tennis Writers' Association, she also serves on the Joint International Media Commission.

Francisco Moreira (BRA) has covered tennis for various Brazilian media outlets since 1985, and in 2009 covered Roland Garros for the 25th consecutive year. He writes for newspapers and websites as well as serving as a commentator for BandSports.

Paul Newman (GBR) has worked for national newspapers in the United Kingdom for 30 years. He was Sports Editor of The Independent from 1991 to 2004, when he became Chief Sports Feature Writer. He has been the newspaper’s Tennis Correspondent since 2006.

Cécile Soler (FRA) is a staff sports writer for Le Figaro and has been covering tennis for fifteen years. She has been an ITWA board member for four years.

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Dear ITWA members,

Since its inception, ITWA has come a long way, thanks to the dedicated work of the people who have led the organization. At the last meeting of the board during the French Open 2009 in Paris, we, Sebastian Fest and Marco Keller, have been elected Co-Presidents as successors of Neil Harman, whom we thank again for his precious work. With the great help of the whole board it is our goal to strengthen the status of ITWA even more.

Our top priority definitely remains to improve the working conditions of the journalists. We are in constant contact with all the Grand Slam tournaments and try to improve on the situation wherever necessary as well as at other events.

One thing we will work to improve is this website. The board will have a look at that in the upcoming months. Important things will also be translated into languages other than English. We plan to establish a "forum" on the ITWA website to communicate with each other and post story links and travel information.

We will also form subgroups that will work on other issues. Any input from your side about the topics we should tackle is most welcome.

It is important that we are heard by the leaders in the game. They have to realize even more, in these tough days, the importance of a strong and independent media corps. Therefore, we will emphasize a good relationship with the ATP, WTA, ITF and the members of their communications staffs. It is the goal of the members of the board to speak to all the leaders as soon as possible.

It would also be useful if the players were even more familiar with ITWA. Therefore, we hope to continue to do some media training for young players and have one of our members give a speech at the players' school in Monte Carlo.

Once again: An organization is always only as good as its members. We therefore are open to and happy about any suggestions from the membership. Please send them straight to our E-mail addresses.

Best regards and we hope to see you soon.
Sebastian Fest and Marco Keller

 

PRESIDENTS' BIOS

Sebastian Fest (GER) was born in Buenos Aires, has covered tennis for the last 15 years and is based in Madrid as the Chief Sports Editor for the German News Agency's (DPA) Spanish service.

Marco Keller (SUI) played tennis for one year at William Carey College in Hattiesburg, Miss. (USA) and joined the Swiss wire service Sportinformation in 1997. He specializes in tennis and ice hockey, but also has covered America’s Cup sailing, beach volleyball and football and will lead SI’s Olympic coverage.

 

Ambassador Awards

Rafael Nadal of Spain and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia have been voted Ambassadors of the Year for the 2008 tennis season by the ITWA membership, an honor designed to recognize consistent openness and cooperation with the world media. The two players will receive solid-silver hallmarked letter openers, engraved with their name and 'ITWA Ambassador 2008.'

ITWA past president Neil Harman said: "We understand that the players can't grant every interview request, but Ana and Rafa have been exemplary in their professional dealings with the media. Rafa is always scrupulously polite, while Ana always seems to have a smile on her face, even when talking to the media after a defeat. They are great role models for their fellow players, and we hope their engraved letter-openers can find a small but proud place in their trophy cabinets."