Craig Tiley did not just run the Australian Open. He built it.
When the South African-born coach arrived in Melbourne in 2005 as Tennis Australia’s player development chief, the Australian Open was a fine Grand Slam with a loyal following. When he leaves later this year for the top job at the US Tennis Association, it will be a billion-dollar sporting behemoth — one that rivals Wimbledon, Roland-Garros and the US Open not just in stature, but in ambition.
That transformation is Tiley’s most enduring legacy, and it deserves to be named plainly before the commentary class begins quibbling over what comes next.
Figure 1: Craig Tiley, a longtime Tennis Australia and Australian Open leader, said he’s excited to return to U.S. tennis after coaching at Illinois. | Original Image: Getty Images
From Illinois to Melbourne, and Now to Florida
A Career Built on Building Things
Tiley’s biography reads like a man who has never been content standing still. Born in South Africa, he carved out a coaching career in American college tennis, leading the University of Illinois men’s team to an NCAA championship and an extraordinary 32-0 record in 2003.
He brought that same instinct for institutional transformation to Tennis Australia. Tournament director from 2006, CEO from 2013, he was not merely an administrator but an architect.
The Numbers Tell the Story
Under his watch, the Australian Open expanded to a 15-day event. Attendance records fell repeatedly. Revenue figures that once seemed aspirational became routine. The tournament earned its unofficial title, the Happy Slam, not by accident, but through deliberate, consistent investment in player experience, fan engagement and spectacle.
Tiley has been credited with nurturing Australian talent that includes retired women’s world No.1 Ash Barty, and top-20 men’s stars Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios. That pipeline was not luck. It was policy.
Why He Is Leaving
A Family Decision, Not a Career Calculation
It would be tempting to read Tiley’s departure as a chess move – a restless executive seeking a bigger board. The reality is more human.
Tiley’s wife, Ali, is American and has family in the United States. He is relocating his family to Florida, giving his 12-year-old twin sons and 13-year-old daughter the chance to be closer to grandparents and extended family they have not lived near for 20 years.
Something is refreshing about a man at the peak of his professional powers making a choice based on family rather than status. He acknowledged he has a great life in Australia, a great team, and much to be proud of – but the pull of family and the appeal of a new challenge proved stronger.
The Challenge Awaiting Him in New York
A Different Beast Entirely
Tiley replaces Lew Sherr, who departed the USTA last year to join the New York Mets as their president of business operations. The USTA is a different proposition to Tennis Australia – a vast, decentralised organisation overseeing the world’s highest-paying Grand Slam in a country where tennis competes for oxygen against the NFL, NBA and baseball.
USTA Board chair Brian Vahaly described Tiley as bringing “a rare combination of global credibility at the highest level of the sport and a proven commitment to growing the game at the grassroots.”
That framing is deliberate. The USTA wants what Tennis Australia found, the formula for making a Grand Slam feel like the centre of the sporting universe for two weeks a year.
The Question Tennis Australia Must Now Answer
One Role, One Person — But Who?
Tiley has been unequivocal that his successor will continue filling the twin roles of running Tennis Australia and directing the Australian Open. That position has attracted criticism over the years, with some arguing no single person should carry both responsibilities.
His rebuttal is logical. The CEO is the public face of the organisation. Having a separate tournament director would fragment authority and confuse external stakeholders. History has largely vindicated the model.
He says the winning candidate will likely come from within the tennis community, with “absolute cultural alignment” the board’s primary criterion.
That phrase should not be dismissed as corporate filler. The culture Tiley built – collaborative, commercially driven, and player-friendly – is the engine of the Australian Open’s success. Getting the culture wrong in a successor would be far more damaging than getting the CV wrong.
Protecting the Happy Slam
Tiley has given assurances that the Australian Open’s reputation as the Players’ Slam will outlast him. That is a promise the incoming leadership will need to honour, particularly as player discontent over prize money, scheduling and court conditions has grown louder across the sport in recent years.
The Australian Open’s brand is genuinely exceptional. It is warm, accessible, and exhilarating in a way the other three Slams rarely match. That is a cultural achievement — and culture is always harder to preserve than infrastructure.
Farewell to a Builder
Craig Tiley is 63 years old and heading into one of the most demanding sports administration roles in the world. He is not winding down. He is changing continents.
For Australian tennis, the task now is to find someone who understands that what Tiley leaves behind is not just an organisation but an ethos. The Open is the Happy Slam because people choose, day after day, to make it so.
Whoever inherits the keys will need to make the same choice every single day.
Research Sources
- https://sportstar.thehindu.com/tennis/australian-open-chief-craig-tiley-steps-down-joins-us-tennis-association-ao-2026-ceo-resigns/article70674136.ece
- https://au.news.yahoo.com/key-detail-about-wife-and-family-as-craig-tiley-quits-tennis-australia-to-move-overseas-205455899.html
- https://www.afr.com/companies/sport/craig-tiley-resigns-as-tennis-australia-ceo-20260225-p5o57v
