Craig Tiley: CEO, Tennis Australia + Tournament Director, Australian Open

Published 27th May, 2025.

Craig Tiley is the CEO of Tennis Australia and long-time Tournament Director of the Australian Open — the largest annual sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere and the most-watched global sporting event each January, with over 14,000 staff, 800 players, and 2.5 billion viewers worldwide.

This is one of Craig’s most personal and rare long-form interviews. It’s time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy.

***

To support this podcast, check out our some of our sponsors & get discounts:

→ $1,000 off Vanta: Your compliance superpower — vanta.com/high

→ Get up to 6 months of Notion’s Business plan for free with Notion AI included (worth $12K): Go to - https://ntn.so/highflyers & click “Apply Now”

***

If you're keen to discuss sponsorship and partnering with us, email us at contact@curiositycentre.com today!

Hosted by Vidit Agarwal, Founder of Curiosity Center and The High Flyers Podcast.

It’s now time to explore your curiosity.

***

In this rare, long-form conversation, Craig opens up about:

• Growing up in South Africa during apartheid, his activist parents, and how losing his father’s ad agency shaped his worldview
• His goal to live on five continents — and the military training that instilled discipline, resilience, and perspective early on
• Discovering tennis at age 14, skipping sailing weekends to practice against a wall, and falling in love with the sport
• Travelling through Europe with no money, sleeping in train stations and car boots, chasing the tennis dream
• Why he realised he wouldn’t make it as a pro player — and how he pivoted to coaching, eventually earning a master’s degree in Texas
• Coaching a struggling college team from 4–23 to national champions, and why he believes “if you want to learn how to lead, go and coach”
• Being unexpectedly hired by Tennis Australia in 2005, and launching a 10-year plan to rebuild the country’s tennis pipeline
• What it takes to earn player trust — and why he gave Roger Federer and the world’s #300 the same $1,000 travel cheque
• His formula for executing bold ideas year after year at the Australian Open — and the team culture that fuels innovation
• How he turned media production in-house, making content over 50% of TA’s revenue, and why he hates bureaucracy
• His bold vision for the future of tennis — including a simplified global tour and more player-first decision-making
• What we don’t appreciate about elite players — from the mental load to the resilience needed to tune out the noise
• His daily habits, the influence of his wife and executive team, and how he handles pressure behind the scenes
• The joy of convincing others to back his ideas — and why “getting everyone else to own it” is the secret to real change

‍

***

Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter

Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here

Contact us via our website to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve!

Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show!

‍

The High Flyers Podcast is a "meticulously researched audio biography" that uncovers the untold stories of remarkable people and companies—redefining what it means to be a high flyer. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past two years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200 episodes released. A flagship product of the Curiosity Center, it has been featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW, offering raw, relatable insights from childhood to career, helping listeners become 1% better every day.

200+ guests have joined Vidit Agarwal on the show from 15+ countries, including The CEO's of multi-billion dollar companies like Bunnings, Australia Post, Woolworths; Board Members at Macquarie Bank, ANZ, Reserve Bank; Former Prime Minister of Australia; Globally renowned tech leaders from Google, Microsoft, Xero; Successful Venture Capital and Family Office Investors; CIO's at the world's biggest superannuation funds; Leading Entertainers; Olympic Gold Medal Winning Athletes and interesting minds you wouldn't have heard of that are changing the world.

Our parent company, Curiosity Centre is your on-demand intelligence hub for knowledge, connections and growth to achieve your potential, everyday. Join 200,000+ Investors, Founders, Functional Leaders, CEOs and Emerging Leaders. Learn with the world's best and be 1% better everyday at https://curiositycentre.com