Australian Open Boss Craig Tiley calls for tennis to have stronger global narrative By Lachlan Wills

Australian Open boss Craig Tiley has told The Ministry of Sport Podcast tennis must create a stronger collective story that lives beyond the peaks of major tournaments.

“We are all in this together, all four Slams, and we are looking at- and the sport is looking at- a way we can create a much better narrative leading into the Slams,” he said.

Tiley says fans should be able to seeing meaning and purpose behind all the on-court action throughout a season.

“And a much better narrative, a global narrative of where a player is going- ‘They’re going to the Middle East, how are they doing? They’re going on to Europe, how are they doing? What surface are they on? How do they compete against each other? What does it mean for the year end, and who finishes number one, and why?’

“We don’t have that narrative right now. The only ones that really understand it are the players that are playing it. The fans don’t.

“So the fans will go for a week to Monte Carlo and have a great time and experience and watch tennis there, but they won’t know what that means in the bigger scheme of things. So the sport needs to do a much better job of that.”

Tiley says there is major scope to illustrate a big picture for fans.

“We are on the journey of trying to fix that, and the future of the sport is very bright. We’ve got, in Australia for example, we’ve got more people playing tennis than ever have before, we’ve got more people signing up to watch the Australian Open, and our lead-in events than we ever have before.

“And every year we grow on that, and that doesn’t happen accidentally, it happens by plan. But that interest is out there. And that’s the same thing that’s happening globally, we are seeing growth of tennis in the United States, we see it in France, we see it in the UK, but we need to have a much stronger global narrative on the premium side of our sport.”

To hear more of Craig Tiley’s insights into the future of tennis, the vital role of women in sport, the next sports tech revolution, and how the AO has become the world leader, you can listen to The Ministry of Sport Podcast.