Craig Tiley arrives as the CEO of the United States Tennis Association with an exceptional amount of hype following his overwhelming success with Australian tennis.
The Australian Open hit new heights under Tiley’s guidance, which saw the Happy Slam go from strength to strength in his 13 years.
Tiley is expected to do the same at the USTA, as he looks to develop flourishing players and improve the US Open.
The new USTA CEO has explained exactly how he plans to revolutionise tennis in the United States.
Craig Tiley wants more Americans to start playing tennis
Tiley appeared on The Tennis Channel at Indian Wells after making the switch from Australian tennis to the United States.
The South African outlined his plans for the USTA after revolutionising the sport Down Under.
“I want us to continue and make sure we are a player friendly organisation. If you look at it on the participation side, over 27 million people are playing tennis regularly now in the US,” he said.
What is your bold prediction for the 2026 tennis season?
“I think that’s magnificent. That number grows. The target is to hit 35 million by 2035. That’s a big ask but there’s a way forward to get to that point and everyone is working together to do that.”
He added: “Keeping the politics out of it, and focusing on getting people to pick up a racket and play.
“From a player perspective, I want every professional player to feel incredibly proud about the organisations that put on the platforms and services for them.
“We are going to become very customer focused and player focused as an organisation moving forward.”
Tiley oversaw several incredibly popular Australian Open events, which included record-breaking attendance figures and the arrival of the One-Point Slam.
Could the US Open move to best of five sets for women?
During the Australian Open, Tiley shared his desire for women to join the men by playing best-of-five set matches.
The South African revealed plans to introduce the act from the quarter-finals onward in a bid to help them compete with the drama of men’s matches.
He said: It’s something we should put on the agenda and start talking to the players about it because there’s some matches in those last rounds which would have been fascinating had they been three out of five sets.”
Do you think women should play best-of-five set matches?
Several top female players have spoken out against the move, claiming they would not be able to compete over such a long distance.
World number two Iga Swiatek was one of the women who has opposed the plan to move to a longer format.
“We have never practiced in a way to prepare for that, so we would need to change, I think, our whole calendar, because the Grand Slams would be so tough that I don’t think we would honestly have time to prepare for any other tournaments,” she said.
While it is currently unclear if the Australian Open will continue with the change without Tiley, it could just as well happen at the US Open now he is in charge.
