By Scoop Malinowski
It’s not a good sign that the ATP World Tour has lost two of it’s finest media relations reps recently, Greg Sharko and Joshua Rey. At this time the details of the personnel changes is unknown but these two were very loyal soldiers and outstanding people, well liked by ALL the tennis media.
Sharko was the ATP’s director of media relations and information and worked for the ATP since 1986.
To illustrate how highly regarded Sharko is by the tennis media, let these two endorsements speak…
Peter Bodo, veteran tennis journalist and author: Greg Sharko is “the hands-down MVP of the ATP Tour (Roger, Rafa and Novak nonwithstanding).”
Jon Wertheim, veteran tennis journalist and Tennis Channel commentator: “The Roger Federer of tennis research.”
And here is a positive review of the work of Rey…
Richard Pagliaro, Tennisnow.com: “Rey was excellent at his job and he loves the sport, a shining star, far superior to most of the others in the business. It’s a pity the man who has been a part of this game since he was a ballboy to the stars at the Nasdaq Open (Miami Open) is no longer with ATP. Rey, like his hero Roger Federer, pure class on and off the court. ATP Tour would be wise to bring him back.”
Joshua Rey joined the ATP about a decade ago as a media information manager and the editor-in-chief of the ATP Media Guide since 2017. He was inspired to pursue a career in pro tennis by his experiences as a Sony Ericsson Open ballboy in the early 2000s. He covered junior, college and pro tennis for USTA.com, TennisWeek.com and The Miami Herald. Also as an ESPN statistics associate, Rey researched stats and trends on tennis players and storylines. He worked on-site for ESPN at Wimbledon in 2009. This extensive tennis background evolved into a key position with the ATP.
Both were very popular, respected and well-liked by all media and players too. Both Sharko and Rey had many duties for the ATP and the tournaments they were assigned to, such as helping the local media get stories, interviews, etc. They were the links between the players and tennis reporters and each witnessed the highs and lows, the thrills of victory and the agonies of defeat. In my decades of covering various ATP and WTA tournaments, they both were always extremely helpful and friendly to work with.
In a sport that doesn’t always make logical sense in how it presents itself and it’s greatest champion in history (Novak Djokovic), it’s a strange feeling to write this story about the difficult and curious decision by the ATP to lose two valued employees like Sharko and Rey in 2023.
ATP World Tour · Greg Sharko · Joshua T. Rey
