Craig Tiley (born 1962) is a South African tennis executive and retired U.S. college

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

coach. Tiley is the current CEO of

Tennis Australia Tennis Australia Limited is the governing body for Tennis in Australia. It is owned by Australian states and territories. The association organises national and international Tennis tournaments including the Australian Open, the Australian Open S ...

, which is the governing body that oversees tennis in Australia. He is also the Director of the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

. As a college coach he led the

Illinois Fighting Illini men's tennis The Illinois Fighting Illini men's tennis team is an NCAA Division I college tennis team competing in the Big Ten Conference. The team plays its home matches at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Illinois. History The Illinois men's tennis prog ...

team to

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Division I national championship in 2003 and ITA National Team Indoor Championships in 2003 and 2004.

Early years

Tiley was born in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa and attended high school in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. He began playing tennis at the age of 12 and achieved a top ranking as an amateur in South Africa, which enabled Tiley to play in

satellite tournaments A satellite tournament is either a minor tournament or event on a competitive sporting tour or one of a group of such tournaments that form a series played in the same country or region. Poker A satellite tournament in poker is a qualifying event ...

throughout Europe from 1983 to 1986.

College and military service

Tiley attended the

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

, South Africa where he played for the Maties men's tennis team from 1980 to 1983. He graduated from Stellenbosch with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in economics in 1983. After graduating, Tiley completed

compulsory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

by serving in the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

. He then moved to the United States in 1986 to enroll in the Professional Tennis Management program at

Tyler Junior College Tyler Junior College (TJC) is a public community college in Tyler, Texas. It is one of the largest community colleges in Texas, with an enrollment of more than 12,500 credit students each year with an additional 20,000 continuing education enroll ...

located in

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

. Tiley then continued on to the

University of Texas at Tyler The University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler) is a public research university in Tyler, Texas. Founded in 1971, it is a part of the University of Texas System. UT Tyler consists of five professional colleges and one traditional college of arts and ...

where he earned his master's degree in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

Coaching career

Tiley was hired by

Ron Guenther Ronald E. Guenther (born October 3, 1945) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois from 1975 to 1978, compiling a recor ...

in 1992 at the

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

to serve as the Director of Instruction at the

Atkins Tennis Center Opened in 1991 at a cost of $5.3 million, the Atkins Tennis Center is home to both men and women's tennis at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois ...

. After

head coach Neil Adams left following the 1992 season, Guenther offered Tiley the job for the 1993 season on an interim basis and Tiley was named the permanent head coach following the 1993 season. In 1998 Tiley assumed coaching duties as the captain of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

for the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

, and remained in this position until 2001. Tiley led the Illinois men's tennis team to ITA National Team Indoor Championships in 2003 and 2004, and reached the championship match three other times in 1998, 1999, and 2002. He also led Illinois to a 32–0 record and an

NCAA Men's Tennis Championship The NCAA Men's Tennis Championships are annual tournaments held in the spring to crown team, singles, and doubles champions in American college tennis. The first intercollegiate championship was held in 1883, 23 years before the founding of the NCA ...

in 2003 Tiley's He received his second Wilson/ITA Division I National Coach of the Year award following the 2003 season. Tiley coached Illinois to their record for longest consecutive win streak in NCAA history at 64 matches, spanning from their first match of the 2002–2003 season and ending with a 4–2 defeat by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in the semi-finals of the 2004 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament.

Professional player development

During his time at Illinois, Tiley coached the following collegiate men's tennis players who went on to play professionally with the

Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, an ...

. * Kevin Anderson *

Ryler DeHeart Ryler DeHeart (born March 1, 1984 in Kauai, Hawaii) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached his singles career high ranking of 174 on May 3, 2010. He was coached by Brad Dancer. DeHeart resides in Champaign, Illinois. Profes ...

Amer Delić Amer Delić (; born June 30, 1982) is a Bosnian American former professional tennis player. He is a former captain and member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Davis Cup team. Delić was born in Tuzla, then in Yugoslavia, now in the northeastern p ...

Graydon Oliver Graydon Oliver (born June 15, 1978) is a retired American professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, he won four titles during his career. Upon retiring from the tour, Oliver took a job in the energy sector (Leor Energy Leor Energy was ...

Rajeev Ram Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. Ram is a five-time major champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open, and the 2022 US Open in men's d ...

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

Tiley has also worked as a personal coach for professional tennis player

Wayne Ferreira Wayne Richard Ferreira (born 15 September 1971) is a South African former professional tennis player and current tennis coach. Career As a junior player, Ferreira was ranked world no. 1 junior doubles player and no. 6 junior singles player. He ...

Administrative career

Tiley left Illinois in 2005 to accept a position with

to serve as their Director of Player Development. In 2006 he was named Director of the Australian Open in addition to his prior duties for Tennis Australia. After Tennis Australia's CEO stepped down in 2013, Tiley was selected as the successor. There were calls for Tiley to resign from Tennis Australia after he facilitated a travel visa for Novak Djokovic to play in the

2022 Australian Open The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...

despite earlier advice from the Australian government that Djokovic's recent COVID-19 infection did not warrant the provision of a medical exemption. Djokovic was deported from Australia and did not compete in the Open.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiley, Craig 1962 births Living people Illinois Fighting Illini men's tennis coaches South African sports executives and administrators South African male tennis players Sportspeople from Durban Stellenbosch University alumni Tyler Junior College alumni University of Texas at Tyler alumni South African Army personnel South African tennis coaches