USTA Hires Craig Tiley as Chief Executive Officer
By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Photo credit: Fiona Hamilton/Tennis Australia
Craig Tiley is taking his tennis management skills to the United States.
The United States Tennis Association today announced it has hired Craig Tiley, the accomplished Chief Executive Officer of Tennis Australia, as its next Chief Executive Officer.
Tiley is widely respected for driving growth in tennis player participation during his tenure in the role in Australia as well as implementing innovations to make the Australian Open a major attendance attraction.
The 64-year-old Tiley has touched tennis at nearly ever level.
Tiley’s career includes successful leadership in collegiate coaching, running community tennis, and administration of the Australian Open. Tiley will formally assume his responsibilities as USTA CEO in the coming months as he continues to work closely with the Board of Directors of Tennis Australia to ensure a smooth transition of leadership, the USTA said in a statement.
“From the very beginning of this process, our top priority was identifying the right leader to accelerate participation growth and help us achieve our goal of reaching 35 million players by 2035,” said USTA Board Chair and interim Co-CEO Brian Vahaly. “Craig brings 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 balance is exactly what this moment requires. As we look to fully leverage the power of the US Open as a platform for inspiration and growth, Craig’s leadership and understanding of the entire tennis ecosystem will be invaluable. We are excited to build on our current momentum of six consecutive years of participation growth, and we are confident he is the right leader to guide American tennis into its next chapter.”
Tiley, who formerly coached Illinois to the NCAA Championship, called his return to the States a “full circle moment.”
“I am truly honored to step into the role of CEO of the USTA later this year,” Tiley said. “I’ve long admired the organization’s leadership in growing the game across the United States and the extraordinary success of the US Open. Tennis has shaped my life — personally and professionally — and having begun my tennis journey in the U.S. as an NCAA championship coach, this opportunity feels like a full-circle moment.
“I’m excited to return to American tennis and to work alongside our leadership locally and nationally to continue building the sport’s reach, impact, and future.”
Here is Craig Tiley’s bio from today’s USTA news release on his appointment:
A native of South Africa, Tiley’s professional journey includes a deep history in American tennis. As the Head Coach of the University of Illinois men’s tennis team from 1994 to 2005, he guided the team to an NCAA Division I National Championship in 2003 with a perfect 32–0 record. Tiley was twice honored as the Wilson/ITA Division I National Coach of the Year and was inducted into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.
Tiley brings a track record of success in all facets of grassroots tennis growth. During his tenure, tennis became the second most participated sport behind soccer in Australia. In 2025 the sport had 8.3 percent growth, more than any other sport. Over the last five years, online court bookings tripled and overall participation grew by 30 percent. Coach membership grew 44 percent over the last five years and female coaches grew by 60 percent – now representing 33 percent of the total coaching workforce in Australia.
As CEO of Tennis Australia since 2013 and Australian Open Tournament Director since 2006, Tiley has been a globally recognized champion for innovation and player-first initiatives. Under his leadership, the Australian Open continually broke attendance and revenue records, becoming one of the world’s most innovative and successful global sporting events.
In the announcement of his appointment, Tiley touted tennis as a sport for a lifetime that has cultural connectivity and implied he’s interested in innovating in America as he’s done in Australia.
“Tennis is one of the few truly global sports that you can play for a lifetime, at any level, and that’s part of its magic,” said Tiley. “It has an incredible ability to bring people together — players, fans, communities — across countries and cultures. I firmly believe the opportunity ahead for our sport is enormous.
“We’re moving from engaging millions who attend events live to connecting with billions of fans around the world digitally, year-round. If we continue to innovate and tell the story of our sport in a compelling way, tennis will only grow stronger, more connected, and more impactful in the years ahead.”
Tiley helped direct the Australian Open to become, arguably, the most fan friendly of all majors. Tiley was also willing to innovate at the Melbourne major. He oversaw innovations, including the popular AO 1-Point Slam giving recreational players the opportunity to go up against elite pros.
Under Tiley’s guidance, the AO added its own red-light district to the courts. The AO added red lights affixed to both sides of the chair umpire seat and both net posts. When a shot or serve was out, the red lights lit up notifying players—and fans—the ball was out. It was a fantastic enhancement, especially on Rod Laver and Margaret Court Arena where sometimes fans get so loud you can’t actually hear the verbal “out” call. The red lights give players and fans the visual call the ball was out.
The AO created a coaching pod right on the corner of the court so players could walk over to retrieve their towels and talk tactics with their coaches while those discussions were mic’d and could be heard by viewers watching at home.
It’s a creative way to bring fans closer to the action—-and highlight ongoing strategic adjustments between players and their coaching teams. Former coach Tiley, also implemented recognition for coaches during the AO finals trophy presentation as the winning coaches appeared on court and were given a trophy and check.
At the USTA, Tiley will take over an organization with a greater budget than the TA, but one that’s also earned a growing reputation as a tight insider’s club where volunteers are no longer valued as they once were. At the TA, Tiley engaged both fans and media in his efforts to grow the sport. Can he do the same at the USTA, which limited some domestic media coverage at the 2025 US Open and denied some long-time journalists access to working desks? While Tiley earned a reputation for being accessible and inclusive at the TA, can he bring that same spirit of engagement and energy to the USTA, which sometimes so seems intent on controlling its message so much it limits media participation.
Tiley will take the helm of an organization that touts it is in pursuit of a purpose-driven mission — “Growing tennis to inspire healthier people and communities everywhere” — and says it “has established incredible momentum toward achieving its goal of reaching 35 million players in the United States by 2035.”
The good news is American tennis at the pro level is prospering.
Six of the Top 10 WTA players—No. 4 Coco Gauff, No. 5 Jessica Pegula, No. 6 Amanda Anisimova, No. 15 Madison Keys, No. 18 Iva Jovic and No. 20 Emma Navarro—are American. Two U.S. women, Gauff and Keys, won two of the four Grand Slam singles crowns in 2025.
While world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 2 Jannik Sinner have combined to claim nine consecutive major singles championships, six U.S. men—No. 7 Taylor Fritz, No. 9 Ben Shelton, No. 22 Tommy Paul, No. 23 Learner Tien, No. 28 Frances Tiafoe and No. 29 Brandon Nakashima—reside in the Top 30.
The question is: Can Tiley put the USTA on track toward its ambitious 35 million players by 2035 goal? Particularly when pickleball and esports have grown at such a rapid rate and the cost of indoor court time in places like the northeast can make tennis too expensive during the winter time for a large playing population?
Tiley joins the USTA during a period of unprecedented growth, with tennis participation surging to a new high of 27.3 million players in 2025 – the sixth consecutive year of growth for the game in the U.S.
In announcing Tiley’s appointment, the USTA says: “Since 2019, tennis in America has grown by 54 percent – adding nearly 10 million players – with these latest increases driven by more play occasions, more players coming and staying in the sport and strong momentum from play by women and communities of color.”
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