Craig Tiley began his tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Tennis Association last month.
Tiley, from Durban, South Africa, spent 13 years as the CEO of Tennis Australia before making the switch.
The Australian Open grew significantly in status under Tiley’s guidance, with tournament expansion and the construction of three cutting-edge roofed stadiums just the tip of the iceberg.
Will the trailblazing South African have a similar effect on US tennis?
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Jeff Ryan, the Winston-Salem Open Tournament Director, expressed his desire to see Tiley execute one key change within the US tennis landscape while speaking exclusively to Tennishead.
Jeff Ryan wants to see Craig Tiley and the USTA establish stronger support for smaller tennis events in America
There are few better placed to comment on the USTA and the future of American tennis than Jeff Ryan.
After a nine-year stint as the Director of Operations at IMG, Ryan joined the USTA in 1997.
The American spent 23 years as a USTA Senior Director before taking on his role at Winston-Salem in 2020.
“Look, I guess some context [first]. I was and still am a big fan of Gordon Smith and his tenure when he was running the USTA,” Ryan stated from his office in Winston-Salem.
“I was there for a lot of it. Gordon and then also Lew Sherr. I mean, he deserves a lot of credit for where the USTA is.
“Brian [Vahaly] and Andrea Hirsch… I guess I want to recognise their contributions to the USTA and the growth of tennis, because they’ve done a fabulous job.
“I think Lew moving on and accomplishing what he wants to in his career is totally understandable and whatnot, but I’m not going to be shy about saying I miss Lew and I think he was a great leader.”
Gordon Smith remains the longest-serving USTA CEO in organisation history.
The American assumed the position in November 2007 and carried out the role for 12 years.
Lew Sherr was the USTA CEO from 2022 to 2025. He joined the New York Mets [American baseball team] upon departing from the US tennis organisation.
“Now, I also happen to know that Craig Tiley is a dynamic leader,” Ryan continued. “He has a great track record of improving beyond a lot of people’s expectations.
[With] what Tennis Australia does at the Australian Open, I think he’ll be a tremendous resource and asset for the US tennis community and the USTA in particular.
“He knows how to grow things. He’s smart on his feet, and I’m hopeful that he continues to listen and learn and try and understand the USTA, which is an interesting organisation.
“Again, I’m saying this having worked there for more or less 24 years.
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“The way it’s structured, it’s going to feel different. But I think Craig and the type of leader he is and what he’s demonstrated in his years of working and whatnot, he gets that and he knows the importance of that and having to learn the organisation.
“I think he’ll navigate well. I’m a fan of his. I’m supportive of his.”
Ryan went on to identify the area of US tennis he hopes Tiley can help to improve moving forward.
“If I was to be a little selfish… what I hope is that he brings back some of what – of recent – has kind of filtered away from the USTA.
“That is, more tangible support for events like ours in Houston and Delray and Miami’s and all that.
“There used to be just stronger association with the events, and I’m hoping that Craig – and I’m basing it on what I see down under and what he did down there – that just have stronger ties with events like ours.
“We are part of the ecosystem. We need that support, and we welcome that support. We want to be on the same page as the USTA.
“So I’m excited to see what he does, and like I said, I think he will lead to further growth of tennis in the United States on top of what’s already happening.
“Whether it’s recreational or pro, I think he’s the man,” Ryan concluded.
Jeff Ryan discusses how the Winston-Salem Open selects wildcards
The wildcards selection process has been a hot topic of conversation over the past two months.
Controversy arose in the United Kingdom in June when Dan Evans was not awarded a wildcard for Queen’s or the Wimbledon singles main draw, despite outlining his desire to retire at the Grand Slam event.
Evans later hit out at the Lawn Tennis Association, stating that their conduct throughout June had been a ‘shambles.’
Tennis fans were also left divided after Serena Williams was granted a wildcard for the Wimbledon Women’s Singles event.
“Well, it’s a number of things. I guess I should overlay this with – we tend to be guilty of waiting until late in the game and that’s because we want to make sure that there’s not somebody coming out of the Cincinnati field that may not have performed up to his standard, done as well, and may need a few extra matches,” Ryan began.
“And that group would be that top one to 20 [ranking] that normally doesn’t necessarily come through here.
“So we are guilty of waiting a little bit to see and I guess that’s part of my answer to your question That’s how, in part, we treat our wild card situation.
“We obviously have a strong connection with Wake [Wake Forest University]. Using last year is probably a better example, but they won the national championship in NCAA.
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“We have an understanding with them that when something like that happens, there’s a strong chance that we might take their top player.
“Last year we did that very thing with that player, and oh by the way, he also won the USTA’s wildcard playoff to get a main draw entry into the [US] Open and what not. It was just a little bit of a perfect storm there.”
Ryan is referring to American player Stefan Dostanic.
Dostanic was part of the Wake Forest team that won the 2025 NCAA Team Championship.
The 24-year-old went on to compete in the Winston-Salem Open after receiving a wildcard, losing in the first round to Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic.
Dostanic also defeated Michigan State’s Ozan Baris and Columbia’s Michael Zheng en route to the USTA’s 2025 Wild Card Playoffs, earning himself a wildcard spot at the 2025 US Open.
Dostanic was beaten in the US Open first round by fellow wildcard Eliot Spizzirri.
“The other part of my answer to your question is we factor in Wake,” Ryan continued. “And we always want to make sure that we’re out there and aware and cognisant of players that realistically have a chance to do something good, including for our community, and try and keep them on our radar.
“People write me all the time – in the doubles space as well. They make their cases.
“I think what might separate us and this tournament director from others, and very frankly, I like this – is I don’t do it myself, by myself. I do it with a variety of points of view.
“I’m one of 12 board members of Winston-Salem Professional Tennis. I’m not saying that makes us unique, like I’m sure other tournaments have committee. But I’m very deliberate about that, and I don’t let a certain preference that I might have alone for, say, an American to be in the field or an old connection of mine from the USTA days and that sort of thing.
“So I think we’re very deliberate and thoughtful about it across those areas that I’ve mentioned.
“Who knows, Tsitsipas did it last year in Cincinnati. He didn’t go deep and he was coming back and if a name like that emerges, yeah, we’re interested.
“He had great impact on our community – he didn’t play that deep but you know that was an interesting wild card for us and we decided to go for it.”
Tsitsipas was seeded number one at the 2025 Winston-Salem Open, but lost his opening match to China’s Bu Yunchaokete.
Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics won the event, defeating Botic van de Zandschulp in the final.
