Craig Tiley: CEO, Tennis USA (Former CEO, Tennis Australia)

Published 27th May, 2025.

Craig Tiley is the CEO of Tennis Australia and long-time Tournament Director of the Australian Open — the largest annual sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere and the most-watched global sporting event each January, with over 14,000 staff, 800 players, and 2.5 billion viewers worldwide.

This is one of Craig’s most personal and rare long-form interviews. It’s time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy.

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In this rare, long-form conversation, Craig opens up about:

Growing up in South Africa during apartheid, his activist parents, and how losing his father’s ad agency shaped his worldview
His goal to live on five continents — and the military training that instilled discipline, resilience, and perspective early on
Discovering tennis at age 14, skipping sailing weekends to practice against a wall, and falling in love with the sport
Travelling through Europe with no money, sleeping in train stations and car boots, chasing the tennis dream
Why he realised he wouldn’t make it as a pro player — and how he pivoted to coaching, eventually earning a master’s degree in Texas
Coaching a struggling college team from 4–23 to national champions, and why he believes “if you want to learn how to lead, go and coach”
Being unexpectedly hired by Tennis Australia in 2005, and launching a 10-year plan to rebuild the country’s tennis pipeline
What it takes to earn player trust — and why he gave Roger Federer and the world’s #300 the same $1,000 travel cheque
His formula for executing bold ideas year after year at the Australian Open — and the team culture that fuels innovation
How he turned media production in-house, making content over 50% of TA’s revenue, and why he hates bureaucracy
His bold vision for the future of tennis — including a simplified global tour and more player-first decision-making
What we don’t appreciate about elite players — from the mental load to the resilience needed to tune out the noise
His daily habits, the influence of his wife and executive team, and how he handles pressure behind the scenes
The joy of convincing others to back his ideas — and why “getting everyone else to own it” is the secret to real change

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The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s most relatable role models in business, tech, finance, government and sport in the US, Australia, Singapore, India and New Zealand.

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