Australian Open 2022: Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis support Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley after Novak Djokovic saga
Craig Tiley was booed by the crowd on Thursday and Tennis Australia’s relationship with the government has soured. But Nick Kyrgios and the players feel differently.
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Nick Kyrgios has backed Craig Tiley’s brazen move to jet unvaccinated superstar Novak Djokovic into the country as powerful players reject calls for Tennis Australia’s board to sack its long-time chief executive.
Kyrgios spoke to Djokovic when he was locked up in detention shortly before the world’s best player was deported by the Federal Government as Tiley’s move backfired spectacularly.
“We spoke briefly, and he’s back home now,” Kyrgios told News Corp.
“I guess it’s just been a bit of s**t-show for him, so I was just making sure he’s all right. He’s been through worse, I’m sure he just wanted to get away from it all.”
Tiley has become the Australian Open’s invisible man since the fiasco that made the Australian Open and the entire country a lightning rod for global criticism.
After more than week of silence, the 60-year-old, on Thursday night, spoke publicly for the first time since Djokovic was deported, but Tennis Australia’s relationships with both the Victorian and Federal Governments have soured.
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When Tiley finally popped his head up earlier on Thursday — taking to Kia Arena to present retiring Aussie Sam Stosur with flowers and a gift — he was booed by sections of the crowd.
But Kyrgios sympathised with Tiley and declared under his leadership the Grand Slam had been transformed into the best tennis tournament on the planet.
“The media are always going to say things, but they don’t really know the whole gist of how everything played out,” Kyrgios said.
“Tiley’s always been pretty good to me. His goal is to get everyone here – I can’t blame him for wanting to get Novak here to play in the Australian Open.
“And I can’t blame him for maybe pushing the limits on crowds. You want to see sports, sports is a rich culture in Australia and especially tennis.”
Kyrgios’s doubles partner, fellow Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis, agreed the player-dubbed ‘Happy Slam’ cast a shadow over fellow majors Wimbledon, the French Open and US Open.
“(Tiley) has always been players first, every single time,” Kokkinakis told News Corp.
“So he’s always looked after us and been super good to us. We can’t even imagine how hard it would’ve been last year to try and run the event.
“The amount of money the Aussie Open would’ve lost just to run the event and give us the chance … this is the most well-liked tournament of the year, every year. The atmosphere is unbelievable.”
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No.3 seed Alexander Zverev said: “I think Craig Tiley has lost a few years off his life over the last two years – but is doing an incredible job”.
“To make the event happen last year when the country was completely closed, and to make it happen this year again, is one hell of an effort. I think he deserves a lot of credit,” Zverev said.
“There should have been more communication between the Victorian government and the Australian government before Novak came here.”
French ace Alize Cornet was less effusive after she endured a miserable time in hotel quarantine last year.
“Definitely we can feel he’s trying his best every year, even though it’s not going his way all the time,” Cornet told News Corp.
“Since last year with the government I know there was a lot of confusion sometimes and players were not happy about the outcomes of those negotiations.
“But definitely he’s trying his best and he’s very generous with us with the per diem and the hotel facilities, so we feel really welcome. It’s good.”
V’landys backs Tiley to thrive after Djoker scandal
Craig Tiley will be “headhunted” in a heartbeat if Tennis Australia sacks its gagged chief executive over the Novak Djokovic debacle, according to the man who resuscitated live sport in Australia when coronavirus first shut down the country.
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys exclusively told News Corp he was flabbergasted at the raging criticism of Tiley, given his sparkling record across 17 years that have transformed the Australian Open into a worldwide event.
“As far as Craig Tiley’s concerned you have to look at what he actually did (with Djokovic). What he tried to do was to act in the best interests of his organisation,” V’Landys said.
“And that’s what a CEO is supposed to do. A CEO is supposed to put on the best possible event they can, maximise the revenue and maximise the attendances.
“That’s what he’s done. He hasn’t done anything that is untoward. You have to judge people on the total picture, and not on one per cent of it.”
Tiley, 60, was a noticeable absentee from Monday’s trophy presentation and Wednesday’s inaugural First Nations Day celebration as speculation mounts that the Djokovic deportation fiasco could see heads roll.
Tiley has not been sighted since last Thursday’s Grand Slam draw at Melbourne Park, where he refused to answer questions, and he has been unusually inactive on social media.
Channel 9 commentator Jim Courier was called off the bench to cover Tiley at Monday morning’s event.
The world has entered the most difficult era of professional sports administration ever due to coronavirus and a long line of chief executives have left their posts since the pandemic began.
They include Kevin Roberts (Cricket Australia), Raelene Castle (Rugby Australia), Todd Greenberg (ARLC), Kitty Chiller (Gymnastics Australia) and Matt Favier (Hockey Australia).
But under Tiley, Australian Open prizemoney has jumped from $26 million to $75 million in the past decade while tournament attendances grew from 643,280 in 2014 to 812,174 in 2020, shortly before the pandemic began.
V’Landys was confident Tiley would land on his feet if it is game, set and match at TA.
“Any person that looks at it objectively would say that he’s an exceptional CEO, so he would have no difficulty whatsoever getting another position,” V’Landys said.
“He would be headhunted pretty quickly because he’s got extraordinary results. You can’t judge (him off) one incident. If that was the case there’d be no CEOs – in business or sport.
“No one ever does not make a mistake. Everyone makes a mistake. But if he has made a mistake here, he was trying to do the best for his organisation. How do you knock that?”
V’Landys – one of the most powerful sports administrators in the land – said the secret to negotiating with governments in Covid times was to show respect.
“I think you respect their views, and when you respect their views you get greater co-operation,” he said.
“The problem which Gill (AFL boss Gillon McLachlan) could relate to as well is we’re dealing with more than just one government.
“We’ve got federal and all the different states – we’ve (NRL) got Victoria, Queensland and NSW.
“It’s not so much the ministers, it’s the actual bureaucrats as well. They’re facing enormous challenges and you have to respect that.”
Get vaxed or forget about slams, Novak
—Emily Benammar
Days after Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia after having his visa refused, his former coach Craig O’Shaughnessy has cast doubt on whether the world No 1 can win any more grand slams unless he yields on his anti-vax views.
Djokovic currently sits level with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal on 20 grand slam titles, but with age and fitness on his side, has been widely tipped to become the most decorated male player in the Open Era.
That was until he was kicked out of Australia this week after his visa was cancelled for a second time, delaying his chances of winning a 21st slam.
Furthermore, France has this week introduced vaccine mandates which could bar Djokovic from the French Open.
“Man, I hope so,” O’Shaughnessy said when asked if he thought Djokovic would consider being vaccinated.
“He’s going to have to figure this out quickly. If he doesn’t get vaccinated, I don’t know where he’s going to play.”
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Based on entry to country requirements, Djokovic could also be locked out of America and therefore the US Open, leaving Wimbledon as the sole major.
Not being vaccinated could count the world No. 1 out of significant accolades, O’Shaughnessy said.
“I would say when we look at his body of work and his age, there’s some really good stuff in the pipeline. He’s one of the fittest humans on the planet.
“There’s a lot of miles left in Novak, a lot of title and records. It doesn’t make sense to give all of that up.
“Ultimately it’s up to him and his beliefs, we can’t fault him for that. There’s still many titles to be won for him in the last 25 per cent of his career.”
Djokovic arrived in Melbourne two weeks ago thinking he would be able to play after being granted a medical exemption to enter the country.
The rationale behind the ‘free pass’ was that he had contracted Covid-19 in the past six months.
But a secondary court hearing – presided over by judges in the Federal Court, ultimately ruled that he was to leave Australia immediately.
His presence in Australia divided public opinion with his staunchest supporters protesting in the street and clashing with police.
On the other side of the fence was an overwhelming majority wanting him gone and questioning why he was granted entry in the first place.
So why do Australians dislike him so much?
“There are two layers to this,” says O’Shaughnessy. “Roger and Rafa; that’s one. They are the champions here in Australia.
“Their demeanour on court is impeccable. That’s (what) rubs us the wrong way about Novak.
“He’s cocky.
“Smashing racquets never goes over well in Australia. It’s a big deal. That’s a major part.
“(Also) Humble is not him.
“It’s not like he says ‘I want to be angry’ but there’s a human element where it gets the better of him. That rubs the Australian crowd the wrong way.”
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Originally published as Australian Open 2022: Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis support Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley after Novak Djokovic saga
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