Tennis boss talks up Australian Open, gets earful about Kyrgios

Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley was in Brisbane talking up the Australian Open, but on the flight up he got an earful about one of the game’s most controversial players.

A NICE RACKET

TENNIS Australia boss Craig Tiley was in Brisbane yesterday talking up the Australian Open. Tiley told an East Coast Forum lunch in the ANZ boardroom in Eagle Street that the Melbourne grand slam was once a loss making event that had trouble attracting the world’s best tennis talent.

Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley. Stuart McEvoy/The Australian.

Tiley says a decision by Tennis Australia a few years back to “become masters of our own destiny” and bring ticketing, retailing and promotion in-house paid dividends with the annual event now pumping $350 million into Melbourne’s economy.

Tiley says that while the top end of the sport is important, he is not ignoring the grassroots. Tennis Australia is moving to encourage other versions of the game including paddle tennis, which is played from a smaller court, and pickle ball, which combines elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis. Tiley says about 1.3 million are playing tennis in Australia but he estimated several million more have a tennis racket in the cupboard that is never used. The idea is to encourage them to get their racket out and start playing.

NICK OF TIME

WE hear Tiley got waylaid on the flight up to Brisbane by someone demanding he do something about the sport’s enfant terrible Nick Kyrgios.

It’s a tough challenge but as Tiley points out Kyrgios is his own man and his behaviour is rewarded by the people who line up to watch him play and see the “next train crash.”

Nick Kyrgios

You might recall Kyrgios, who has flashes of brilliance, threw a tantrum over the wrong coloured towel at the Canada Open last week.

Not surprisingly Tiley was effusive in his praise of Ash Barty, who he described an exemplar of what a professional tennis player should be.

BRIDGE TO BRIDGE

SCOTT Horton, managing director of Brisbane-based recruitment and search business troocoo, is preparing to put on his running shoes to support good mental health.

Horton and quite a few of his staff are running the Bridge to Brisbane on Sunday, 25 August. Horton’s efforts will raise funds for ReachOut – a digital mental health service helping young people and their parents with whatever life throws at them.

The cause is close to his heart because of his personal experience. He has seen people he was close to affected by mental ill health throughout his life but never really anticipated that he himself would be affected by it himself.

He went through a difficult time in his personal and professional life back in 2016 and felt like he was in a downward spiral.

Not only was his mental health affected but the symptoms were also physical as he had trouble walking and experienced panic attacks. Scott felt that his experience of mental ill health was one that escalated quickly, and within six months he was hospitalised. With ongoing support from mental health professionals, family and friends Scott is back to his best. One of the things that helps him to be happy and well is running.

WHAT’S IN A NAME

THE legal eagles are bunkered down at the Federal Court this week for what is likely a long and complex investigation into the circumstances of the JM Kelly Group collapse.

The investigation is already into its second week and there is already talk of witnesses being called back again at some stage. Amidst the tedium of the legal argument last week there was a little bit of levity during the questioning of Geoffrey Murphy, the 78-year-old founder of the Rockhampton-based construction firm.

Clearly frustrated that Murphy was giving him a whole series of “don’t recalls” to his questions, barrister Craig Wilkins, who is acting for liquidators PWC, retorted “do you recall your own name?”. That prompted an angry objection from Murphy’s own barrister who pointed out the process was not a cross examination of his client.

Geoff Murphy of J.M Kelly leaves Brisbane Federal Court.