Long-serving Australian Open boss Craig Tiley says Melbourne Park needs to continue to evolve to keep pace with other grand slams that have invested billions of dollars into their own precincts.
Tiley’s tournament has set record crowds again beyond one million, but he wants to make sure the Melbourne major continues to set the standard.
Sunset over Rod Laver Arena for the 2025 Australian Open men’s singles final between Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev.Credit: Getty Images
“The great thing is we’ve got the best precinct in the world, but we shouldn’t take it for granted because we’ve got to keep evolving and keep developing,” Tiley told this masthead.
“This is not an ask on the Victorian Government for money … I think it’s a time to reimagine what’s possible, but I don’t want this to be a reimagination of 10 years. We need to reimagine now.
“We’re making massive investment in temporary infrastructure for a great precinct that’s not sustainable into the future because one, sustainability, but two, cost, and then you stop getting a return on it, if you just keep doing it for too long.”
Craig Tiley tests out one of the new courtside pods on Rod Laver Arena.Credit: Eddie Jim
Tiley said they could use the space they have more efficiently, whether that means constructing double-storey buildings or changing the way areas are used, but that money was an “inhibitor” to that.
“It’s got to be motivation to reimagine a great future for the precinct. We’re on to something really special here – not just this event, but other events,” he said.
“It’s been five years now since we’ve had any further development. Other grand slams around us are investing billions in theirs, and I just want us to make sure that we are staying ahead.
“What we’ve got is awesome, so I’m not a dissatisfied customer of what we’ve got, but the way I operate, the way I lead is [to keep raising the bar and pushing ourselves]. That’s why I challenge the team to change the site 50 per cent, if not more, every year.”
Tiley is known for his grand ideas, and he told this masthead he would love to organise a tennis match in the middle of the MCG one day with the aim of attracting the biggest tennis crowd ever.
“Maybe [we should] start calling for it. I think it’d be great – put a tennis court in the middle,” he said.
“We could put something together, and you could potentially have the biggest tennis audience ever in the history of the world.
“We could have an exhibition one night, and you could bring back all the greats. You could have the two best players in the world play each other. It would be great content.”
Ten-time champion Novak Djokovic endured more Australian Open drama, from beating Carlos Alcaraz to suffering another hamstring injury and ultimately retiring one set into his semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
Madison Keys sprayed the champagne on Australia Day after breaking through for her first grand slam title win at 29.Credit: Getty Images
Djokovic’s sudden retirement triggered boos from the Rod Laver Arena crowd, but Tiley was adamant that it was not “anti-Novak”.
“I always hate the booing – it doesn’t matter what the reason is,” Tiley said.
“It’s not a cool thing to do in any situation, but I definitely think that was a boo of disappointment. I don’t think it was targeted at Novak at all.
“Even the conversation in the corridors here afterwards with the players, and that kind of stuff; there was a general understanding of acceptance that it was not because of Novak, it was because the fans saw only one set.
“It was a good set, and they wanted more of that. That was gearing up to be an epic, and then it suddenly stopped.”
Tiley said there was no scenario where fans would have been recompensed in that situation, outside of a withdrawal before the match even started.
He is also seriously open to a Djokovic statue being erected at Melbourne Park in honour of his Australian Open achievements.
“I think the way we’ve got the celebration of the Australians in the hall of fame is great, but I think we’ve decided we’re a global event,” Tiley said.
“He’s won this event 10 times, and we all get along great with Novak and his team. They’re actually fun to be around, and he’s so highly competitive walking on the court – he wants to do nothing but win.”
Tiley also weighed in on the controversy about the tournament not using let technology, which Germany’s Zverev said was “ridiculous”.
“It’s a very simple technology [but] it’s costly. It wasn’t used in the Olympics, Davis Cup or Roland-Garros,” he said.
Novak Djokovic with Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley at the Australian Open in 2021.Credit: Getty Images
“You don’t need technology for the let because you can see it and hear it.”
Tiley said scrapping the let-calling technology was not the “final step” to lets being removed from tennis, but he would like to see them gone from the sport.
Asked if the Australian Open could do that as soon as next year, he said “the sooner the better”.
“The juniors have been playing for seven years without lets, and college tennis for 25 years,” Tiley said.
“It does add a little bit of time, but probably not much time.
“It’s just one of those weird things. You don’t play lets on the serve, but you play during the match, or during the point, and it’s like, ‘Why?’. I can’t answer the question.”
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