Richard Evans (journalist)

{{Short description|British sports journalist, author}}

Richard Robert Ingham Evans (born February 10, 1939 in Paris, France){{Cite web |title=International Tennis Hall of Fame |url=https://www.tennisfame.com/richard-evans |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=www.tennisfame.com}}{{cite web |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/dAAZ3KK0VTulADFASwrjll5mSYk/appointments |title=Richard Robert Ingham Evans |author= |date= |website=Companies House |publisher= |access-date=2023-12-30 |quote=}}{{cite web |url=https://www.workwithdata.com/person/richard-evans-1939 |title=Richard Evans |author= |date= |website=Work With Data |publisher= |access-date=2023-12-30 |quote=}} is a British sports journalist, author, and historian who is most closely associated with tennis.

As a teenager he was educated at Canford School,{{cite web |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-evans-6734b87 |title=Richard Evans profile at LinkedIn |author= |date= |website=LinkedIn |publisher= |access-date=2023-12-30 |quote=}} a boarding school in Dorset. His journalistic career in tennis began at Wimbledon in 1960.{{cite web |url=https://www.tennisfame.com/class-announcement-2024 |title=Leaner Paes, Vijay Amritraj, and Richard Evans to be inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2024 |author= |date=2023-12-11 |website=tennisfame.com |publisher=International Tennis Hall of Fame |access-date=2023-12-30 |quote=}} He has written 23 books, including biographies of Ilie Nastase and John McEnroe, as well as serving the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in several roles; as its first press officer in 1973, as European Director from 1974 to 1977, and on its Board of Directors from 1977 to 1979.{{cite web |url=https://www.tennisfame.com/class-of-2024-ballot |title=ITHF announces nominees for Class of 2024 |author= |date=2023-09-26 |website=tennisfame.com |publisher=International Tennis Hall of Fame |access-date=2023-12-30 |quote=}} In 1986 he was the third recipient of the ATP's Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award.{{cite web |url=https://www.atptour.com/en/news/atp-awards-honour-roll |title=ATP Awards Honour Roll |author= |date= |website=atptour.com |publisher=ATP Tour |access-date=2023-12-30 |quote=}} In 2000 he was one of the founders of the International Tennis Writers' Association (ITWA), and served as its president from 2001 to 2004.{{cite web |url=https://itwa.org/former-itwa-president-richard-evans-nominated-for-international-tennis-hall-of-fame/ |title=Former ITWA president Richard Evans elected to International Tennis Hall of Fame |author= |date= |website=itwa.org |publisher=International Tennis Writers' Association |access-date=2023-12-30 |quote=}}

In 2016, Evans stated that in his judgment Lew Hoad was the greatest player in the world before the emergence of Roger Federer,10sballs, 11 February 2016. https://archive.10sballs.com/2016/02/11/lew-hoad-profile-by-richard-evans/ and "was without question the strongest man who ever played the game."10sballs, 10 August 2016. https://archive.10sballs.com/2016/08/10/ten-fittest-male-players-by-richard-evans/

In 2024 he was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game.