“From the very beginning of this process, our top priority has been to identify the right leader to accelerate participation growth and help us achieve our goal of reaching 35 million players by 2035,” said USTA Chairman and Interim Co-CEO Brian Vahaly. “Craig brings a rare combination of global credibility at the sport’s highest levels and a proven commitment to growing the game at its grassroots. That balance is exactly what this moment demands. 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 take American tennis to its next chapter.”
Craig Tiley added, “I am truly honored to step into the role of CEO of the USTA later this year. I have long admired the organization’s leadership in growing the game in the United States and the extraordinary success of the US Open. Tennis has shaped my life – personally and professionally – and as I begin my US tennis journey as an NCAA Championship coach, this opportunity feels like a full-circle moment. I am excited to return to US Tennis and work with our leadership to continue to build the USTA’s reach, impact and future of the sport locally and nationally.”
A native of South Africa, Tiley’s professional journey includes a deep history in American tennis. As head coach of the University of Illinois men’s tennis team from 1994 to 2005, he led the team to an NCAA Division I National Championship in 2003 with a perfect 32-0 record. Tiley was twice honored as Wilson/ITA Division I National Coach of the Year and was inducted into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.
Tiley has a track record of success in all facets of grassroots tennis growth. During his tenure, tennis became the second most participating sport, after football, in Australia. By 2025, the sport experienced a growth of 8.3 percent, more than any other sport. Over the past five years, online court bookings have tripled and overall participation has increased by 30 percent. Coach membership grew by 44 percent over the past five years and the number of female coaches by 60 percent – now representing 33 percent of the total coaching workforce in Australia.
As CEO of Tennis Australia since 2013 and Tournament Director of the Australian Open since 2006, Tiley is a globally recognized champion of innovation and player-centric initiatives. Under his leadership, the Australian Open consistently broke attendance and revenue records and became one of the world’s most innovative and successful global sporting events.
“Tennis is one of the few truly global sports that you can play your whole life, at any level, and that’s part of its magic,” Tiley said. “It has an incredible ability to bring people together – players, fans, communities – from different countries and cultures. I believe the opportunities for our sport are enormous. We are going from engaging millions of people attending events live, to digitally connecting billions of fans around the world, all year round. As we continue to innovate and tell the story of our sport in compelling ways, tennis will only become stronger, more connected and more impactful in the years to come.”
Tiley will take the helm of an organization that is well underway in pursuit of a purpose-driven mission – “Growing tennis to inspire healthier people and communities around the world” – and has made incredible momentum toward achieving its goal of reaching 35 million players in the United States by 2035. He joins the USTA during a period of unprecedented growth, with tennis participation rising to a new high of 27.3 million players by 2025 – the sixth consecutive year of growth for the game in the US since In 2019, tennis in America grew 54 percent – with nearly 10 million players – with these latest increases driven by more playing venues, more players joining and staying in the sport, and strong momentum from women’s playing and communities of color.
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About the USTA
The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the US and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level – from local communities to the highest levels of the professional game. It is a non-profit organization and invests 100 percent of the proceeds in the growth of the game. It owns and operates the US Open, one of the most attended annual sporting events in the world, along with more than 100 Pro Circuit events in the US, and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships in addition to supporting tennis and education programs nationwide serving under-resourced youth through the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. For more information about the USTA, visit USTA.com or follow the official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X) and TikTok.
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