Craig Tiley

Craig Tiley (born 1962) is a South African tennis executive and retired U.S. college tennis coach. Tiley is the current CEO of Tennis Australia, which is the governing body that oversees tennis in Australia. He is also the Director of the Australian Open. As a college coach he led the Illinois Fighting Illini men's tennis team to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I national championship in 2003 and ITA National Team Indoor Championships in 2003 and 2004. Early years Tiley was born in Durban, South Africa and attended high school in Johannesburg. 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 throughout Europe from 1983 to 1986. College and military service Tiley attended the Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, 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 in economics in 1983. After graduating, Tiley completed compulsory military service by serving in the South African Army. He then moved to the United States in 1986 to enroll in the Professional Tennis Management program at Tyler Junior College located in Tyler, Texas. Tiley then continued on to the University of Texas at Tyler where he earned his master's degree in kinesiology. Coaching career Tiley was hired by Ron Guenther in 1992 at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign to serve as the Director of Instruction at the Atkins Tennis Center. After Illinois Fighting Illini men's tennis 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.