“Cricket’s in December,” Tennis Australia’s chief executive, Craig Tiley, says with a smile on a record-breaking first day of the Australian Open on Monday. The veteran may be rumoured to be considering a move to the US Tennis Association, but for now he remains focused on his sport’s summer dominance.
“Our objective is we want to own January,” he says. At the launch of one of many Melbourne Park sponsor activations, conditions are ripe for Tiley to talk a big game. “We’re intense, and we’re intense because we’re 21 days, every day.”
The Australian Open was previously a two-week tennis event. It expanded to 15 days in 2024 by bringing forward the start of the main draw by 24 hours. Now Tennis Australia wants to make the most of “Opening Week”, which has traditionally been the domain of the fading prospects and veterans still dreaming of a great grand slam run by going through qualifying.
Until 2024, it was free to attend these qualifying matches. Now, ground passes are A$20 (£10) a day, a price that is slowly closing the gap to the A$65 (£32) it costs to attend during the main draw.
Aided by a “kids go free” promotion, the tournament drew a first-day record crowd of 29,261 on Monday – almost four times last year’s number – even though the leading name on the schedule was Bernard Tomic. The sun was shining and, inside, vendors were busy, even if drinks and food are not cheap (A$6.50 for 600ml soft drink, A$15.60 for 425ml of Balter XPA; A$18.90 for a small pizza, A$14 for chicken tenders).
“It doesn’t feel like it’s the first day of qualifiers, it feels in many ways like it’s the first day of the event,” Tiley says. “But this is the first day of 21 days of activity, entertainment, sport.”
The week is now supercharged by charity exhibitions with top players, music concerts – a show by dance veterans Hot Chip on Tuesday night is sold out and The Presets are playing on Friday – and promotions like the One Point Slam and Saturday’s new opening ceremony, featuring Roger Federer.
Last year Tennis Australia’s annual revenue jumped by A$102m to A$693m (£50.7m to £345m). Tiley is adamant his philosophy is not growth for growth’s sake. “We are an event about getting people to pick up a racket and play, and we’re always going to be about promoting the game and providing opportunities for players,” he says. “There’s more things we can do, we have live music for the whole time, everything is open, more food, more gaming, a partnership with Mecca on beauty and wellness.”
The efforts appear to be working. In 2024, opening week attracted almost 90,000 fans. More than 116,000 came last year. Tiley expects that number to double or triple this year, and wants to see it quickly rise to half a million. The ace up his sleeve is the One Point Slam, a promotion that pits top professionals against celebrities and amateurs who have won through regional qualifiers. It was trialled last year but this summer a A$1m (£500,000) prize has been added.
“We’ve had quite a few international organisations approach us about how we’re approaching it, because they see it as a great opportunity as connecting community tennis to professional tennis,” Tiley says.
Wednesday night’s event will feature Carlos Alcaraz and Nick Kyrgios as well as the former cricketer Steve Waugh, the TV presenter Karl Stefanovic and the comedian Andy Lee – and is now a A$29 (£14) ticketed event.
Alan Preston was at Melbourne Park on Monday with his family who hail from Cobh in Ireland. They are keen tennis players and have attended Wimbledon. Australia’s grand slam, Preston says after his first three hours, was “a million miles better, and it’s not just about the weather.
“Everything is signed well here, it’s mapped out. We’ve got all the memorabilia, and to see the top-grade players warming up and training this morning in Rod Laver Arena was impressive as well.”
Tiley is aware that the experience of fans can be tested when the site is too full, or when temperatures rise. Melbourne Park this year includes larger shaded areas, and amenities remain a focus. “The objective is to bring the players and the fans closer together,” he says, highlighting how outside courts now have two-level grandstands.
“We’re connecting that second level to other second levels, and the future plan we have with that side of the precinct is to sink the courts into the ground even further and raise the stands on the side and be able to walk around the top.”
That would be an expensive upgrade for Melbourne Park five years after it completed a A$1bn (£497m) redevelopment, and it would need support from the Victorian government and the trust that controls the precinct.
“The priority is to keep growing the event,” Tiley says. “The sink courts idea I gave, that’s just an idea, but generally when we throw out ideas out there, they sort of become reality, we want people to think about them that way.”
