AP writer Howard Fendrich dies at 55

Howard Fendrich, a national sports writer for the AP who covered tennis, the Olympics and more, has died at 55. His wife Rosanna Maietta said that he died Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He was “diagnosed with cancer in February” shortly after returning from covering the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. Fendrich worked at the AP for 33 years, during which time he “chronicled the careers” of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and more, while covering some 70 Grand Slam tournaments over “nearly a quarter century on the beat” (AP, 5/21).