UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION (USTA) has announced the appointment of Craig Tiley, currently chief executive of Tennis Australia, as its next chief executive officer.
Tiley is widely credited with driving significant growth in tennis participation in Australia during his tenure. His career spans collegiate coaching, community tennis development and the administration of the Australian Open. He will formally take up his role at the USTA in the coming months, while working closely with the Tennis Australia Board of Directors to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
A South Africa native, Tiley has longstanding ties to American tennis. As head coach of the University of Illinois men’s tennis team from 1994 to 2005, he led the programme to the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championship title in 2003, completing a perfect 32–0 season. He was twice named the Wilson/ITA Division I National Coach of the Year and was later inducted into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.
Under Tiley’s leadership in Australia, tennis participation expanded markedly. The sport became the second most-played activity after football (soccer), recording 8.3 per cent growth in 2025, the highest of any sport that year. Over the past five years, online court bookings have tripled and overall participation has risen by 30 per cent. Coach membership increased by 44 per cent, with the number of female coaches climbing 60 per cent and now accounting for 33 per cent of Australia’s total coaching workforce, according to the media release.
Tiley takes charge at a time of sustained momentum for the sport in the United States. Tennis participation reached a record 27.3 million players in 2025, marking the sixth consecutive year of growth. Since 2019, the game has expanded by 54 per cent nationwide, adding nearly 10 million new players, the media release noted.
USTA board chair and interim co-CEO Brian Vahaly said, “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. 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 added, “I am truly honored to step into the role of CEO of the USTA later this year. 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.”
