New USTA CEO Craig Tiley on Leaving Australia & "Big Swings" + Pegula & Paul Open Clay Season

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Served with Andy Roddick

Episode: Future of American Tennis: Craig Tiley Interview and Pegula & Paul Clay Titles
Date: April 7, 2026
Host: Andy Roddick with Jon Wertheim, Brian Vahaly, Producer Mike
Notable Guest: Craig Tiley (Incoming CEO of USTA)

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers a vibrant exploration of the present and future of American tennis. Andy Roddick, Jon Wertheim, and Producer Mike recap recent tournament headlines before diving into a major in-person discussion at the USTA's annual meeting with new CEO Craig Tiley and interim co-CEO Brian Vahaly. The conversation spans topics such as American player development, college tennis as a pipeline, diversity and inclusion, grassroots strategies, innovations coming to the US Open, and audience Q&A. The episode is rich with personal stories, candid insights, and optimism about growing tennis in the US.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Headline Recaps (Charleston, Morocco, Houston)

Timestamps: 03:25–12:37

• Jess Pegula Defends Charleston Title
  • Pegula’s back-to-back titles praised for her consistency and reliability.
  • Underdog story: Ukrainian finalist Yulia Starodubtseva, a teaching pro with a GoFundMe, breaks into the top 50.
  • Quote (John, 05:03):

    "Jess Pegula... she's just become such a reliable winner at this stage. There’s tremendous self-awareness. Another title. She’s become so reliable."

• Rafael Hodar’s First Title in Morocco
  • 19-year-old Spaniard wins his first ATP title in only his seventh pro event.
  • Emotional backstory: opponent Burchaga’s dad scored the 1986 World Cup final goal.
  • Quote (John, 06:44):

    "Rafa Hodar from Spain is a player worth watching. This is a really blazing talent. And now he has a title to his name."

• Tommy Paul’s Gritty Win in Houston
  • Comes back from championship points down to claim his first clay title.
  • Discussion of American men who could disrupt on clay.
  • Quote (John, 07:33):

    "Tommy Paul really does a nice job putting that Miami disaster behind him. Gets a clay court title and looks like he’s really back in form."

2. Coaching Carousel & Drama

Timestamps: 09:58–12:37

• Big Week for Tennis Coaching Changes
  • Francisco Roig leaves Paracard for IGA’s camp—breakup drama in coaching highlighted.
  • Gilles Cervara’s now-available status noted.
  • Quote (John, 10:23):

    "Player-coach relationships. This is great drama: personalities, dueling accounts, multiple truths."

3. Interview: Craig Tiley & Brian Vahaly on the Future of the USTA

Timestamps: 14:34–32:01 and beyond

Craig Tiley’s Vision and Big Swings

• Why the USTA?
  • Sees "massive opportunity" to define a long-term vision for tennis in the USA.
  • Track record of big, successful swings at Illinois and Tennis Australia.
  • Quote (Craig Tiley, 17:33):

    "There's a way the US could again lead the world when it comes to participation, getting people to play the game, getting people to perform well."

• Decision-Making Philosophy:
  • Prefers taking risks and making decisive moves over inaction.
  • Quote (Craig, 28:28 / Also 01:02):

    "I much prefer to make a decision that's wrong than not make a decision at all. I've kind of lived my whole life like that."

Player Development & College Tennis Pipeline

• Data-Driven Decisions:
  • Tracy Davies’ new approach: Use historical data to identify athlete needs rather than one-size-fits-all funding.
  • Flexibility praised: Programs should meet players where they are.
• Evolving Role of College Tennis:
  • Debate on the influx of older international players due to NIL, possibly reducing opportunities for American youth.
  • College tennis now viewed as a key minor-league/developmental system.
  • Quote (Brian, 27:44):

    "I'm clearly a big believer in college tennis... But I do get concerned a little bit as we think about the eligibility for college tennis and who's playing it to ensure that it is a healthy pipeline for our youth."

  • Quote (Craig, 29:55):

    "I actually think it's a bit of a crisis. I think that we got to lean in big time and find a way to stop those programs from being dropped."

Growing Participation & What Works

• Grassroots Focus:

  • COVID sparked initial growth; now USTA is shifting focus to local investment and improving facilities and coaching.
  • Data shows resurfaced courts boost use by 20–25%.
  • Quote (Brian, 31:01):

    "We're thinking a lot more about the customer itself. Who's actually down there, what does the player need? What drives them to play?"

• Events as Culture, Not Just Stars:

  • U.S. Open and Australian Open success driven by making the events experiences for all, not solely star-dependent.
  • Quote (Craig, 32:56):

    "If you get people to play the game, the people that are playing the game are buying tickets to go and watch the game."

4. Audience Q&A — Insights from the Field

Timestamps: 35:39–56:28

• Fostering Love for Tennis in Kids (question via John Wertheim, 36:01)

  • Focus on making tennis accessible, fun, and social for children.
  • The impact of team formats and educating parents to be first coaches.
  • Quote (Craig, 36:32):

    "Is the first question is how do we make it as easy as possible for a kid to get to a tennis court? And when they get there, how do we make it as fun as possible?"

  • Quote (Brian, 38:04):

    "We've got to teach parents they can actually teach their kids how to play tennis."

• Best Advice Learned Post-Pro:

  • Roddick: Control the controllables, focus energy on what you can manage.
    • Quote (Andy, 40:19):

      "One of the few things I was very, very good at was controlling the controllables."

  • Tiley: Find a coach you genuinely connect with.
  • Vahaly: Master your mental game and rebound from adversity.

• Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion:

  • USTA seen as a global leader, but more progress needed.
  • Tiley’s legacy at Tennis Australia: 50-50 gender parity on boards, leadership.
  • Quote (Craig, 43:43; 47:09):

    "The beauty of our game... is the platform to be inclusive to everyone. But it's on us to make sure that we put the programs, the pathways and the opportunities in place."

• Innovations for US Open & USTA:

  • Anticipation of upcoming fan-experience upgrades and stronger community connections.
  • Notable Tiley quip: “We’re not shifting the US Open date—just checking to see if you’re listening!” (55:30).

• Replicating Australian Success in the US:

  • School tennis integration, aggressive reward programs for clubs/coaches, curriculum inclusion.

• Grassroots Volunteers Recognized:

  • Roddick stresses how local “points of exposure” and positive first experiences fuel lifelong tennis interest.
  • Quote (Andy, 60:39):

    "It comes down to points of exposure... we don't care how people get into tennis as long as they have a positive memory."

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Notable Quotes

• Craig Tiley:
  • "I much prefer to make a decision that's wrong than not make a decision at all." (01:02/28:28)
  • "There's a way the US could again lead the world when it comes to participation, getting people to play the game, getting people to perform well." (17:33)
  • "I actually think it's a bit of a crisis. I think that we got to lean in big time and find a way to stop those programs from being dropped." (29:55)
• Andy Roddick:
  • "One of the few things I was very, very, very good at was controlling the controllables." (40:19)
• Brian Vahaly:
  • "We need opportunities for our young American players to play college tennis. It cannot just be a minor league, professional system." (29:43)

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Key Timestamps

• 03:25 – Tournament recaps (Pegula, Hodar, Paul)
• 09:58 – Coaching carousel, drama in coaching
• 14:34 – Live at USTA conference; Craig Tiley and Brian Vahaly join
• 17:33 – Tiley's motivations for joining USTA
• 23:27 – Player development and measuring success
• 27:44 – College tennis as pro pipeline; issues with international players
• 29:55 – College program drops deemed a "crisis"
• 31:01 – Grassroots/participation strategies
• 32:56 – Events thriving beyond star players
• 35:39 – Audience Q&A begins
• 36:01 – Fostering tennis in kids in the US
• 40:19 – Best competitive advice from panelists
• 43:43/47:09 – Diversity, gender equity, and inclusion leadership
• 45:20 – Tiley on what excites him most about USTA role
• 52:46 – School tennis and club incentives for participation growth
• 54:29 – Fan experience as urgent area for US Open innovation
• 60:39 – Roddick on how to grow the game: exposure and positive first experiences

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Memorable Moments

• Tiley’s 7 million miles worked at Tennis Australia—a symbol of his dedication. (16:43)
• Roddick’s story of being kicked off the national team, winning Orange Bowl, standing up for individualized development paths. (24:31)
• Roddick’s French Open cramping match memory and Michael Chang’s sportsmanship. (57:38)
• Tiley recounts seeing a young, obsessive Roddick as a boy—underscoring passion as the seed of greatness. (59:31)

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Closing Thoughts

The episode offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at tennis leadership mid-transition, blending humor, candor, and serious discussions about the direction of American tennis. Craig Tiley’s appointment is considered a "no-brainer" (Andy, 62:23), with expectations high for innovation and inclusion. The energized Q&A shows the commitment of USTA’s grassroots base—a point everyone agrees will shape American tennis for years to come.

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Transcript

[Andy Roddick]

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[Craig Fowler]

My wife says you look like a young Bill Clinton.

[Andy Roddick]

A young Bill Clinton. I always get Stifler, but okay, why the usta? Why now?

[Craig Tiley]

I much prefer to make a decision that's wrong than not make a decision at all. I've kind of lived my whole life like that and I'll have no problem taking big swings again. I would love to walk every street across America and I will know that people in that town are all playing tennis. That's not a dream, that's a reality. And we're going to get there.

[Andy Roddick]

No pressure. I hope you pull it off.

[Brian Vahaly]

The question is, are we losing opportunities for some of our American youth who are not ready to go? You were ready at 17. You were an outlier there. There were many of us who needed to play college tennis. You look at John Isner among many players who needed those four years.

[Andy Roddick]

Jon Isner needed to go to school. Yeah, flip it, Mike. Send it out. Is the tennis season too long? You go to 20 people and they go, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Can we fix it? I don't know.

[Craig Tiley]

So I actually think it's a bit of a crisis. I think that we got to, like, lean in big time.

[Andy Roddick]

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[Producer Mike]

hey, everybody. Welcome to Served, presented by ServiceNow. We have JW in Paris, me here in Charlotte. And Andy is at Augusta. He is taking a mandated go to the practice round. John, have you ever been to Augusta?

[John]

I have. It's no Wimbledon, but it's pretty great. And good. Good for Andy. Tennis needs practice rounds. We got practice courts. We need practice rounds.

[Producer Mike]

Yeah, I do. The practice rounds are pretty sweet. I've been to a few practice rounds of some tournaments, and it is. It is nice to see. It's cool to see the way they angle, you know, the course and how they're studying it. But I don't know. I think our fan weeks are getting pretty awesome.

[John]

We love Wimbledon, though. I mean, Augusta's great. Don't bring your phone. That's rule number one. I have a friend of mine who's literally accosted and almost evicted for having his phone go off. Wimbledon's got the whole tradition thing going, but it also is kind of fun. I would say it's like a minor league baseball game meets the Masters. But no, the Masters is great. Good for Andy. This is excused absence. We'll get some stories for him when he comes back.

[Producer Mike]

Well, in this episode after the break, we. We actually took over the USTA's annual meeting. We were invited down there, and we interviewed the new CEO, Craig Tyle. Also sat down with current co CEO or interim co CEO and president Brian Valley. So it was a pretty awesome conversation. That is after the break. But before we get to that, John, we have some headlines from this past weekend. The Charleston Open wrapped up and won. Jess Pugula defended her title in dramatic fashion. Huh.

[John]

I love this week. We said we'd do this in 10 minutes, so let's be really fast. But I think this week is so great because this is not one of the marquee weeks of the year. These are not huge, big events that tend to draw you. Neither number one was in action. You didn't have center Alcaraz. What'd you have, though? You had a lot of great stories. And we talk about tennis as this reality show as a script. There were a lot of great B stories here. So Jess Pegula into Charleston with all of that prize money, that bump, and she's just become such a reliable winner at this stage in her career. She had a lot of tough matches. She had a less tough match in the final. Shout out to Yulia Starodubtseva. I hope I'm pronouncing that right per the WTA website. This is someone who was teaching she was a teaching pro at a Westchester Country Club. Played at Old Dominion University. She's Ukrainian. There is so much to this story. She was the finalist. She now has more than $200,000 that she can invest in her career. She's close to the top 50. But this was a Jess Pagula title. Def. She was so she's just emerged as the sort of moral center I feel like of the wto. She's be like commissioner of tennis. She wins a lot of matches. She composes herself like an adult. There's tremendous self awareness. Another title. She's become so reliable. But I love the story of Yulia Starodubsev as well. Another college player making her marks, another Ukrainian player making her marks. And the fact that she had a Gofundme to try and sustain her tennis career now is closing out on the top 50 is a great story.

[Producer Mike]

Over in Morocco we had a young player, 19 year old Rafael Hodar, win his first title in only seven professional tournament attempts. How incredible is that?

[John]

Yeah, it's about time Spain had a decent player come through the ranks. We've kind of gotten thirsty there. No, Hodarth's one of these sort of. He's a purist. If you. This is the niche band that's starting to make it big. It's coming from the underground. A Uva commit. This is a very talented player who now he's 19, doesn't turn 20 till after the US Open and is closing in on the top 50. He has a title. He beat Trungletti, who hardcore fans again will know as this is someone who. I think it was 2018. Someone checked me on that. But at the last minute he got told he was actually in the French Open draw as a lucky loser. So he and grandma got in the van and drove to Roland Garros and then toasted each other on the court with a beer. Sort of a great. Brett Haber called him Truck Stop. Trungletti might be my favorite. That's amazing nickname Credit Brett Haber, 36 years old. He also, more seriously, he was a whistleblower in some match fixing allegations and there are stories you can go find about how he really was sort of ostracized in the locker room. Here he is 36 years old. I think you said this right in his first, first time in the top 100 at age 36.

[Andy Roddick]

Yes.

[John]

Now he's top 100.

[Producer Mike]

Yeah. He's the oldest player to make a debut in the top 100 since 1973 open era.

[John]

We have a 19 year old Spaniard who went to UVA, who's a clear talent. This is someone who people follow tennis closely, have been following this career. This is a really bright prospect. He's playing a guy from Argentina nearly twice his age in Morocco. I love the sport. So yeah, again B stories is our theme of the week. But Rafa Hodar from Spain is a player worth watching. I also he's like 6:3, so he's got the height and he's like a buck fifty. So you sort of wait, wait, wait till he fills out and hits the ball even cleaner. But no, this is a really blazing talent. And now he has a title to his name.

[Producer Mike]

And then back here in the States, Tommy Paul won in Houston, saving three championship points, down 35 in the third set. What do you make of this win for one Tommy Paul.

[John]

I'm surprised this first, first clay court title. But wasn't it like 10 days ago that we were talking about Tommy Paul and he had that match against Arthur Feast in Miami and what kind of psych damage was going to come of it? A match he really should have won and let slip away. He even referred to it as ptsd. The PTSD did not last long. He goes to Houston, beats Francis 7:6 in the third and then in the final staves off those match points against Roman Burchaga. Who is he? He is a 24 year old from Argentina. I did not know this until I started playing around on the Google machine and Wikipedia tells me that his father scored the decisive goal in the 1986 World cup final. Remember with Diego Maradona, you guys are too young. This is one of the great moments of 1980 sports. And his son is now a tennis player who very nearly is winning. But good. More to the point about the winner. Tommy Paul really does a nice job putting that Miami disaster behind him. Gets a clay court title and looks like he's really back in form. It's been sort of an injury beset year for the past 12 months or so for Tommy Paul and now he looks really good heading into European clay.

[Producer Mike]

This actually kind of wraps up. We put a poll question out last week after Taylor Fritz announced that he wouldn't be playing in Monte Carlo and possibly maybe miss the whole clay swing. We asked which American man could be the new disruptor on clay. We asked Tommy Paul, Francis Tiafo, Lerner Tien or Alex Mickelson. And Lerner Tien led the voting with 43% saying he would be the next disruptor. But Tommy Paul was at 42% so I think maybe it's trending that the Tommy Paul fans were the right choice.

[John]

So that came in before Houston, right?

[Producer Mike]

Correct. Yeah. Yeah, that was last week.

[Andy Roddick]

All right.

[John]

So the aforementioned Borochaga beat Lerner Tien, and then Tommy Paul beat him. So he also got. Tommy Paul got an indirect victory over Lerner Tien in the process. I'd say that's probably one, two. I'll sort of. You want to tease Craig Tylee. And when the USTA is successful converting college players to become US Citizens and play for the United States. Now I'm just. Now I'm just trolling. Now I'm just agitating all of these

[Andy Roddick]

college players like Hodar.

[Producer Mike]

We did talk about that. Some with them. So you'll find after the break.

[John]

No, I think Tommy to your question, I think Tommy Paul does indeed move ahead as the bright American star headed into European clay. Do we do it on? Do we hit 10 minutes? Are we good?

[Producer Mike]

Well, I have one more question for you because we're doing good. We're close. We're close. But we had Francisco Roy dump paracord this week and move over to IGA's camp. And Paracard this morning had some statements released saying that he was kind of blindsided and that he found out from his. His agent. What do you. What do you kind of make of this story? And it's kind of the setup. Our poll question for this week, but what do you make of this story?

[John]

You know, how break point didn't really pan out as reality tv? Can we take another stab at this and just do player coach relationships. This is great drama. Its personalities. It's dueling accounts. It's multiple truths. Remember, ironically enough, Francisco Roig was sort of dismissed summarily by Emma Raducannu in Australia. That was not the cleanest break where she went into press and basically said, he's trying to turn me into a loopy European clay quarter. Francisco Roig from the Rafa camp now is back on the bag. Perry card, who I believe, I don't know when we're. I need to confirm this. There was a rumor here in France anyway that he was now with Greg Rusevsky. A lot of coaching drop. We haven't even talked about the other French coach with Gilles Ravara and Bassebo Reddy go down that rabbit hole. Actually, I have this in front of me. We're gonna break our time limit. But this is such a great coaching announcement, I had to read this on the air. If I may bear with me here. You know, you have these sort of it's like a breakup, you know, like the emails you get from friends who's having marital difficulties and we support each other but we're going our own ways. So here's Gilles Cervara. This is irreconcilable differences. It is not with pleasure that I've decided to end up my mission with you. I'm not sure I've ever seen that before. But yeah, big week for coaching drama. So gillesvara, very talented coach. Longtime coach of Daniil Medvedev. He is now available. There are a number of players looking for coaches. There are a number of high profile coach available. Again you can watch this as a six part streaming series coming to Hulu soon.

[Producer Mike]

Well John, it's actually because our poll question reads is this what do you think about this all playing out in the public eye? Is it A, good fans deserve to know. B bad it's a private working relationship. C inevitable this is how everything works now or D just straight awkward. It puts pressure on both sides. That is a poll question we have out on our newsletter across our social channels. Go find it out, cast your vote and we will read the results to Andy next week cause we know Andy has an opinion about this 100%. So that's it. John, we did it. We're 10 minutes.

[John]

All right. I love it. Big week in tennis. Now we've got Monte Carlo and this was fun. We get Andy back, we get master stories. This was just priming the pump and take it away.

[Andy Roddick]

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[Brian Vahaly]

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[John]

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[Andy Roddick]

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[John]

Just snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. Who knew your Questionable music taste would

[Brian Vahaly]

be a money making machine.

[Andy Roddick]

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[John]

selling on depop where taste recognizes taste.

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[Craig Tiley]

breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.

[Andy Roddick]

It is an honor to share. No, it's our honor. It is our larger honor.

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[Craig Tiley]

Ba da ba ba ba.

[Andy Roddick]

And participate in McDonald's while supplies last. Welcome to served. I am Andy. As you can tell, we are not in the normal basement studio. We got people, Producer Mike.

[Producer Mike]

Lots of people.

[Andy Roddick]

There are people here.

[Brian Vahaly]

Lots of people.

[Andy Roddick]

Hi, everybody. You can hear them. You can hear them. It's my pleasure. We are at the 2026 USTA annual meeting and conference and some of the best tennis people in the country are here supporting. They've been ripping it for four or five days. And we have the incoming CEO of the usta, somebody I've known and respected for a very long time, Craig Tylee on served as well as the man to his left. I don't know, there's a lot of job titles to remember with what you got going on right now. It's like president, chairman of the board, co CEO. So you guys co CEO or how does this work now? What's the. Not to make it weird right away, but what's the org chart?

[Brian Vahaly]

I'm waiting for him to start. How's this work so I can get rid of that title?

[Andy Roddick]

Okay. Brian Vehalia, dear friend of mine for a long, long time, we used to play together. I don't want to brag, I've already told this audience, but we beat the Bryans one time.

[Brian Vahaly]

It's kind of a big deal.

[Andy Roddick]

It's a very big deal. Not a lot of people can say that. I mean, I did it with many people.

[Brian Vahaly]

That's quiet.

[Andy Roddick]

All right, Craig, so you are on a. Are you well rested right now? What's your situation?

[Craig Tiley]

Yeah, I'm well rested.

[Andy Roddick]

You've been here a day?

[Craig Tiley]

Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Okay, good.

[Craig Tiley]

I mean, I've been here less than it took to get here.

[Andy Roddick]

Okay.

[Craig Tiley]

But we're getting there.

[Andy Roddick]

I want you to tell just. Just to level set. And it's not just conferences with fun people where, you know, we're learning stuff. We're talking, we're Communicating. And then all of a sudden we're trying to get to that first cocktail. You told me a stat backstage that you've kept track of how many miles you've traveled while you were working for Tennis Australia.

[Craig Tiley]

I was 20 years. Yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

What was that number?

[Craig Tiley]

Little over seven million.

[Andy Roddick]

Seven million miles traveled.

[Craig Tiley]

I think I can probably fly the plane, but I wouldn't. But yeah, it's been a lot of travel. I mean, it's not. It's an island at the bottom of the earth.

[Andy Roddick]

I know where it is. Yeah, I've been there too.

[Craig Tiley]

I know a few times.

[Andy Roddick]

So let's get to it. Right? From kind of the inner circles of tennis, there were rumors, right, that we were looking for someone and your name was bubbling up. And I'm going, I hope that is the person that they can convince you to take the job. Well done, Brian.

[Craig Tiley]

Thank you.

[Andy Roddick]

Why the usta? After all the success you've had in Tennis Australia, that sunset must have looked really close. Why the usta? Why now?

[Craig Tiley]

Well, I would like to start by actually saying it started way back when Brian was a junior player and I started the University of Illinois and I was recruiting, I was trying to get the best junior players to come to Illinois and it didn't really happen because we weren't very good. And he kind of blew me off in the recruiting process. And so I promised one day I'd get him back and here we are. But why? Look, I mean, there's a couple things. One is that I just see a massive opportunity in US Tennis right now. There's. There's a long term vision. There hasn't been that ever. And I think we're in a great position that the game's growing and the people in this room, as you said at the beginning, other people are going to make it happen. So I saw tremendous upside. There's a way that the US again could lead the world when it comes to participation, getting people to play the game, getting people to perform well in the game. And I've been very lucky. The years I had a Tennis Australia, I think I had every possible job under the sun and it has been magnificent. It just came that time where everything aligned and went for it.

[Andy Roddick]

You have this tendency to take big swings, they end up working, and then you go and take a bigger swing at something, whether it's. You said you were not very good at Illinois, you won national titles at Illinois, and I could name 20 people who you would know from tour that he coached there. So starting off with being self deprecating, but then the work you've done with Tennis Australia and kind of the working. I mean, what it was when you joined versus what it is now. Talk about that progression. And from where I sit, it looks like you are constantly trying to peek around the corners, right? Not just taking traffic that comes to you. It's a Grand Slam. We can. You know, I enjoyed it when I played there, and it's nothing like it is now. Is that something that is natural to you, or is that something that you have to kind of force a little bit?

[Craig Tiley]

I mean, I think the first thing is you learn from everyone. You probably don't know this, but I've learned things from you. And one of the. He's getting nervous now. One of the first things.

[Andy Roddick]

Beer pong.

[Craig Tiley]

Well, it's not too similar to that, but one of the things was in 2007, I just started as the tournament director, and in 2007, I walked into the media room and you were doing. You did an interview right after the semifinals, Roger Federer. And I watched you and I listened to that interview, and I thought, that's exactly how you deal with the media. You just don't answer the questions they ask.

[Andy Roddick]

So that's how you got through January. Is it true that you're leaving for the usta?

[Brian Vahaly]

That's.

[Craig Tiley]

That's exactly right. So when the media would ask a question about January, I would talk about woman playing three out of five sets, and suddenly the conversation changed. So.

[Brian Vahaly]

But.

[Craig Tiley]

No, but, yeah, look, I think in all seriousness, taking big swings. I'm a big believer in going for it. And there's a risk in everything that you do, and just take the risk. You won't know the outcome unless you take the risk. And I much prefer to make a decision that's wrong than not make a decision at all. So. So I've kind of lived my whole life like that, and I've been very lucky. I've been around great people. Tennis Australia, I was fortunate there as a great team we put together. And it's not going to be any dissimilar here. There's a great team in place, and there's a lot of magnificent things that are happening. And I got to build on the legacy that Andrew and Brian have already started. So I'm looking forward to that.

[Andy Roddick]

Brian, talk about the process. Talk about. For those of us who don't know, and I've never been part of a search committee, you've seen how unprofessional our team is. Walk us through the process, the narrow down, or was it we want him. And let's work backwards from a no.

[Brian Vahaly]

Well, Craig knows this, but this was dating back to 2020. I sent him an email when we didn't have a CEO at the time. I have been hunting Craig for six years and so to say he's one of the best CEOs in our sport would be an understatement. So I always knew he was somebody I was excited to talk to engage his interest with would now be that time. But listen, this is a really exciting job and we conducted a global search. We had people from all sports who were interested, not just in the tennis ecosystem. So really trying to think through where are we as an organization, what do we need right now. But I'll tell you, and I believe you called the hire a no brainer. It's really hard to find a better fit and a better person for us in this moment than Craig. And so yes, we always had our eyes out. I was incredibly thrilled that he was interested, but it was part of a massive search. We had a lot of interested candidates. Listen, the U.S. open is at all time highs. Who doesn't want to be responsible in a part of the US Open right now? But you also have to understand this job is complicated. It's not just the US Open. We're trying to grow tennis players in America. And so we've got a candidate in front of us who not only knows how to run an event of this magnitude but has grown tennis in Australia by 30%. So just at the end of the day, it's really hard to touch or to beat a candidate as strong as Craig.

[Andy Roddick]

One thing I've always wanted to notice because I have other questions but we'll lead into it. Since you mentioned player development, listen, I know a lot about tennis. I can watch a match and tell you what's happening. I know my own personal journey. I wouldn't have a clue on how to develop players at scale. Right. The thing I've always wanted to know is because some people are like, okay, invest. When I came up it was like invest in some. You were on the national team. I got kicked off the national team. True story.

[Craig Tiley]

Once.

[John]

Once.

[Andy Roddick]

Sorry, once. Yeah, they didn't let me back. But is it breadth, is it depth? And the thing that I always want to know, that I never really hear an answer to is if you're doing something with 14 and 15 year olds, you won't know that result for 10 years. So how do you make strategic decisions if something's working or not? Four years in.

[Brian Vahaly]

Listen, it requires a Lot of patience when you look at this. And I think I really applaud. We have a new general manager, Tracy Davies there, and she's really trying to take a. Yeah, Tracy's. Talk about people you've had tenure with. I've known tracy for probably 32 years, but she's really taking a data driven approach. So really looking historically, what have our best athletes needed, at what point in their career, how can we best help an athlete throughout their journey? I think oftentimes you look back to, as you and I were growing up, your needs and how successful you were at 17 and 18 looks very different than other athletes. And so I applaud her for leveraging data to think about where to put our dollars. Secondly, understanding that each player is very, very different. And so you may need to think about a mental performance coach or something. You know, maybe you're looking to hire a new coach that we can support you with. Other players want to come down to Lake Nona. And I think it's on us to not only continue to invest because American champions lead to higher ratings and more people playing tennis. So it's always going to be important, but I think for us, really being transparent about how we can help, because oftentimes that's, I think, been the real opportunity for us in player development.

[Andy Roddick]

I love to hear that, like, kind of meet the players where they're at, because I had a moment in time where I got kicked off the team and then four months later I won Orange bowl and Australian Open. And I was like, okay, great, like, fund me. And they said, well, you have to be with one of our coaches. I said, then don't fund me. So that worked.

[Brian Vahaly]

You got to be flexible. You have to understand what you need. What is it that Andy Roddick needs at that moment?

[Andy Roddick]

Beautiful.

[Brian Vahaly]

Let's show up that way and then understand other athletes and other players are going to look different.

[Andy Roddick]

There is such thing as funding a good situation, which is, which is fantastic. So I'm happy to, I'm happy to hear you say that, Craig. There's a, there's a lot. There's a lot of noise. There's a lot of attention. There's a lot of opinions about tennis reform. There are, you know, some people that are cosplaying as agents of change. How do you get through when you look at scheduling, calendar, prize money, which is going to be something that you're. It's coming down the chute for you, player wellness, all of these things, how do you prioritize and how do you create Timelines for accomplishments in these areas.

[Craig Tiley]

That's a big question.

[Andy Roddick]

Start anywhere.

[Craig Tiley]

Yeah. Well, I'm not going to shy away from the fact that when at the top level of the game, I've always believed that from a players and a player health perspective, there needs to be a legitimate off season and a season of preparation. And it's on the decision makers in the sport to make that happen. To get the decision makers together to make that happen is a very difficult task. So that has to happen. And at the same time, for us to be truly a global sport, we need to build a narrative, both commercially and from a player's perspective, that everyone knows where the players are going. You know what the four Grand Slams are, but do you know, does the general audience around the world know what happens in between them and where the players are? You can't really understand it. So I know there's good people working towards it, but we've got to move quicker to make that happen. And so at the top level of the game, if a young kid can see aspirationally what they need to do, what the story is, what it means, year round, they get an off season. It becomes more interesting and more enticing to pick tennis as a sport that you want to play. And so I'm not going to shy away from that narrative. And I'll keep beating the drum on shifting that, and I'll probably be right in the thick, in the middle of it, trying to make it happen. I'll have no problem taking big swings again, no pressure.

[Andy Roddick]

I hope you pull it off. But. But when the answer is like, is the tennis season too long? And you go to 20 people and they go, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Can we fix it? I don't know.

[Craig Tiley]

Yeah, exactly, Exactly.

[Andy Roddick]

Not sure. One of the things I want to get your opinion on because of your history, actually, both of you, with you playing college tennis and with you having coached, it is. It's kind of. I was like a college naysayer for a while, right? Like, if I have Brian Behaley coming out of college at a certain moment in time, you outperforming in getting to the top 40 was like an outlier result for the college players. And now it seems like it is the minor league system, it is the training ground. It is. I don't have to worry about the practice partner Davis cup being a college player, therefore not being able to play sets competitively. Right. What is the USTA's relationship and what role does college tennis play in player development now? And is that a Relationship that works together or is it kind of like a handoff?

[Brian Vahaly]

Yeah, I mean, listen, I'm clearly a big believer in college tennis, and I think it's a massive, inspiring journey for our youth. If you think about what gets a lot of kids into tennis, the reason that I got into tennis was the dream of getting a college scholarship. What I will say, certainly over these last few years in an nil world, is we're seeing more and more coaches having the opportunity to bring in foreign players that are 25, 26, 27 years old who are coming off of the tour with an nil dealer. And that's starting to take away scholarship opportunities for some of our youth. And so it's sort of hit us in a couple different ways when we think about collegiate tennis. Is it great that 38 collegiate players played in the main draw of Wimbledon? Absolutely. And we love the high performance player development side. But I do get concerned a little bit as we think about the eligibility for college tennis and who's playing it to ensure that it is a healthy pipeline for our youth. Because if we're trying to drive more players and youth and inspire them, college tennis is a big part of that.

[Andy Roddick]

I hear that argument a lot. That's like you're taking away from something, and I kind of view it. And tell me if I'm way off base here. I kind of view it as we're actually expediting the process of what real competition looks like. Right. Like, is it about feeling good and being the best on your team because you're playing someone that's from three states away? It's hard to argue with, like, the college players that are coming through in the American ones. Is there an argument to say that maybe it's not broken? Maybe it just forces us to be better quicker?

[Brian Vahaly]

Listen, I have a lot of questions about eligibility. Are we trying to make college tennis a minor league tour?

[Andy Roddick]

It is.

[John]

It is.

[Brian Vahaly]

And I think the question is, ultimately, are we losing opportunities for some of our American youth who are not ready to go out on tour? You were ready at 17. You were an outlier there. There were many of us who needed to go, and there's a lot of you. Look at John Isner. Among many players who needed those four

[Andy Roddick]

years, John Isner needed to go to school.

[Craig Tiley]

School, yeah.

[Andy Roddick]

Clip it, Mike. Send it out.

[Brian Vahaly]

Listen, we. We need opportunities for our young American players to play college tennis. It cannot just be a minor league, professional system. I don't.

[John]

I think it.

[Brian Vahaly]

I think there's. There's room for both,

[Craig Tiley]

but I. I just. And I want to add. Add to that. The challenge is actually that programs have been dropped, so no one's getting the opportunity because the money is going towards. So I actually think it's a bit of a crisis. I think that we got to lean in big time and find a way to stop those programs from being dropped, because those are the opportunities.

[Andy Roddick]

One of the big, and you mentioned it when you were coming up, Brian, is the growth of participation in this country in tennis. And the 35 by 35 is great because it's pretty easy to remember. You really lined it up for us right there. But what are the actual strategies that go into growth? Right. Is the number because of things that you have implemented? Is it because Covid happened and we didn't want to be next to each other, but we still wanted to have the fellowship of sports? What are the actual drivers of this program besides, you know, marketing and, you know, things that I can remember?

[Brian Vahaly]

Marketing, campaign. Listen, did Covid help? Absolutely. It helped a lot of our racket sports. And I'd say in general, it brought a ton of people back to tennis who had stepped away for a period of time. So I think that was the initial start. What I would say for us, strategically, we're trying to get more dollars down at the local level. So instead of big programs, you know, just focusing on leagues and tournaments, what is it that's needed at the local grassroots level that actually gets people to play? So what support do coaches need to run better businesses to become better coaches for facilities that have become outdated over the last 15, 20 years? How do we resurface them? Because we have data that suggests a resurface court adds play by 20 to 25%. And so for us, we're thinking a lot more about the customer itself. Who's actually down there, what is the player? What do they need? What drives them to play? And then how do we create circumstances like a great coach or great courts that are nearby that would encourage them to play? And we feel pretty strongly as we put more dollars down closer to where there's actual play, I think that's a sign of the results we've had over the last few years.

[Andy Roddick]

Well, I'll tell you, if you. That's a round of applause for that one.

[Craig Tiley]

That was great.

[Andy Roddick]

I'll tell you. I'm curious your opinion on this, Craig. Cause as a term of director, when you see I call them the Avengers, like the one Namers, like the Rafas, the Rogers, the Serenas, Rodicks. No, no, no. When you Say, Andy, people are like

[John]

Murray,

[Andy Roddick]

like the opposite of a one. But. But as that happens, like, you would have owned my house if you would have told me that Viewership, attendance, all of these kind of obvious metrics for success, for. For tournaments, for tv, et cetera, et cetera, go up when the biggest names in the world leave. That does not make sense to me. How has that happened? And then how do you take kind of the strategies that have helped the Australian Open grow and apply them here?

[Craig Tiley]

Well, that's the reason why it's a great look at things, because we have to look at these events as why they're there. They're there to grow and promote the sport. And if you're investing in growing and promoting the sport, it actually probably doesn't matter who the top players are. The same feeling I had when, you know, when. When the great American players went, and then there was going to be a gap, and then. And then you had. Even now with Roger and Rafa and Serena retiring, those three think there was going to be a gap. And there hasn't been a blip in the radar at all. It's continued to grow, but the events have become events unto themselves because the focus has been getting. If you get people to play the game, the people that are playing the game are buying tickets to go and watch the game. So invest in getting more people to play the game, and you'll have a great opportunity for them to come to the event. Because the event is also more about tennis. It's about the experience, about the place to go. And if they happen to see a great player, that's also an advantage. And that's how things have changed.

[Andy Roddick]

Hey, listen, I'll support anyone who had the initiative to put a bar next to an actual competition court. So you have my vote of confidence. As you look at this job, one of the things that pops to my mind is Australia. You said it's the bottom of the earth. If you've been to the. How many people have been to the Australian Open in this room? So, fair amount, it is the epicenter of the country during those two weeks. The U.S. open is massive, but it's a big place, right? The weather systems in Florida are different than player development in Oregon. So the obvious thing that will be different is scale. Does that matter? Or is it about strategies and implementation and the scale will take care of itself?

[Craig Tiley]

I think the US Open is unbelievable event and the best sporting event in the US there's no question about that. I agree. And the biggest, by the way, and the Biggest. So what more do we do with it? Well, I think there's a massive opportunity as we look into it, is that how do we use the US Open more to grow and promote the sport? How do we connect it to the community more? What experiences we provide for the fans that come that actually want to repeat that again? Experience, because it's just not so much about the game, but it's also about entertainment. And so I think there's massive opportunities for it. And, you know, there's people in this room, Danny's one, that have done an unbelievable job in ensuring that we've got great facilities. And in 2027, when, or 2026 and 2027, when the new facilities are unveiled, the fans that come and go again, great. These guys are investing in my experience. So we're going to see more of that for sure.

[Andy Roddick]

Fantastic. So, producer Mike, I think we should we do some Q and A. Do you guys have some questions for anyone? Just say yes. Just say yes.

[Producer Mike]

So we'll do some Q and A. The way it's going to work is Techie Sean is going to walk around. Why don't you guys go ahead and put your hands up if you want to ask a question. Techie Sean's going to come around and pick a few people. There's a microphone in this aisle. Go ahead and line up. We'll do four or five of them. But before we get to that, we have a question from a huge fan who couldn't make it today, who happens to be pretty good at asking questions professionally. Let's go ahead and roll it, Craig.

[John]

First of all, congrats. Anyone who has seen you and your work ethic up close and personal, or seen the growth of the Australian Open from afar, knows how meaningful a hire this is. Here's a question I'm wondering. We all know the virtues and the values of tennis, but we are adults. I want to ask you about kids. Tennis is hard to master. Matches on TV last a long time. Tennis can be solitary. What are your plans to foster a growth, a love and appreciation of tennis among kids in the United States?

[Craig Tiley]

I don't answer the question. He won't know.

[Andy Roddick]

I mean, I'll tell him, but.

[Craig Tiley]

Yeah, no, John will get you eventually. I think that's the crux of anything is that youth tennis, getting kids into the game, access. How do you make it easy? How do you make it fun? How do you make it social? But we've got some great virtues in this game. Is boys and girls co ed Tennis can play together. You've got a pathway through high school, you can go into college. So we've got some great assets to take maximum advantage of. And so I think the objective and the team, they're doing a great job. There's more that we can accelerate on. But is the first question is how do we make it as easy as possible for a kid to get to a tennis court? And when they get there, how do we make it as fun as possible? And you do that through social tennis, you do that through team tennis, and you do that through making sure you have some organized play as well. So I don't think there's any question that there's going to very soon be more kids playing the game than we've ever seen before. And the research will tell you that if someone, if there's a young player that plays the game just at least once, there's a 90% chance they're going to come back to playing the game at some point in their life. Is that true? That's true. There may be a break in there where they have a family or they do some things, but they will come back to the game. So the importance of investing in getting people into the game, that's why it's so critical and that's why we have a great opportunity here. Great weather, courts across the country, so we have no excuse to get more kids playing the game.

[Brian Vahaly]

Andy, if I may.

[Andy Roddick]

No, thank you for that.

[Brian Vahaly]

Listen, we both have young kids. My boys right here in the front row have played and tested a lot of different sports. And the reality is a lot of parents are the ones driving that ability and that access for them. And so oftentimes we feel like in tennis it requires a tennis coach, which ultimately brings a higher level of fees associated with getting your players involved. And so, yes, do I think team, do I think kids want to play in a team format? Absolutely. So doing that younger, I think is really important. But secondly, we've got to teach parents they can actually teach their kids how to play tennis. Get them out there, get them started.

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[Craig Tiley]

They say you should learn something new

[Andy Roddick]

every day, like how you should only drink Jagermeister at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, ice cold, like those frozen cavemen they find. Which makes you wonder, what would a Caveman. Think of Jagermeister. Well, if you served it warm, he'd probably throw it in your face, say unga bunga and storm off. And nobody wants that. So drink it cold or not at all. Jagermeister. Damn, that's cold. Drink responsibly. Jagermeister liqueur, 35% alcohol by volume. Imported by Mast. Jagermeister US White Plains, New York. Where is Daredevil? I'm right here. Don't miss the return of Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again.

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[Craig Tiley]

I feel liberated.

[Andy Roddick]

We're gonna take this city back over medicated in an all new season. Now streaming only on Disney.

[State Farm Announcer]

They're hunting us. It's time we started hunting them.

[John]

I can work with them.

[Andy Roddick]

This should be tons of fun. Marvel Television's Daredevil Born again. Now streaming only on Disney. It looks like we at least have a couple of questions. Please tell us your name and question.

[State Farm Announcer]

Thank you.

[Andy Roddick]

For aim.

[State Farm Announcer]

Your question, Christine Mendeville. Just want to ask one question which. What's one piece of advice that you could give all three of you to me, for a competitive player that you learned only after playing professionally and being a professional coach,

[Andy Roddick]

the easiest one. And I don't even know that it was from when I was a pro. I think that, like, one of the few things like I was very, very, very good at was controlling the controllables, right? I can't control wind. I can't control this other person's line calls. I can't control what their parents are saying. I can't control if my coach didn't show up. I can't control what are the pieces that I can control. And I was obsessive about that, right? Whether it was sleep training, becoming obsessed with working on a shot. So I wasn't. I would only lose to Roger closer. You know, I think there's a lot of focus on things that are out of someone's control. Like 90% of the time, if you ask a tennis parent or a lot of times even tennis coaches, how did they do? And they'll go, they lost this thing. This thing happened. And they go into this whole. This whole story. And you never really hear, you know what? We need to work on this instead. It's always kind of some story about the thing. So controlling the controllables is the simplest thing. It's something that will land with someone who's five or 50, hopefully.

[Craig Tiley]

Look, a competitive casual player is the person who has the biggest impact on how you start in the sport and how much Energy is normally the coach. And so if you're in an environment, if I look back, if you're in an environment where you're not kind of connecting with the coach, there's no problem. Find another one and keep finding one that you really connect with. Because if you connect with a coach, then, of course, sky's the limit.

[Brian Vahaly]

For me, it was always about what was going on in my mind. You know, I listen. I wasn't the tallest or strongest or had the best shots. Andy's now reminded everyone of that.

[Andy Roddick]

You had a great backhand.

[Brian Vahaly]

Thanks.

[Andy Roddick]

That was the best show.

[Brian Vahaly]

But listen, I always wanted to have really thoughtful control over where my head was at. And so for me, even if I was losing to an opponent, I understood that they were bringing a strategy. I just tried to really keep myself calm and disciplined about what I knew, what it took to succeed and do a really nice job of putting the last point behind me.

[Andy Roddick]

Thank you for your question.

[State Farm Announcer]

Thank you.

[Andy Roddick]

All right. Hello.

[State Farm Announcer]

Hi, My name is Carol Allen. I live in South Carolina, and I'm a Southern Section volunteer. Thank you for being here. It's our honor. Andy Roddick. Craig Tyley. Thank you very much. My question is this to Craig. Brian, we love you.

[Brian Vahaly]

I know we know each other. You could at least say it's an honor.

[State Farm Announcer]

We love you. I'm coming.

[Craig Tiley]

Yeah.

[State Farm Announcer]

So to Craig Tylee. The USDA has really been on the forefront of continuing to uphold its mission towards diversity, equity and inclusion and growing participation in tennis and leadership opportunities in tennis for diverse populations. Our president, Brian Vehaly, has been incredible in this.

[John]

Incredible.

[State Farm Announcer]

So my question to you, Craig. Thanks for letting me call you. Craig. Is can you speak to how your experience in Illinois as well as in Australia have kind of prepared you to help us, this engaged group of exciting volunteers to help us to continue on our mission to promote diversity in tennis?

[Craig Tiley]

Great question. And that's the beauty of our game. And it provides us with the platform to be inclusive to everyone. But it's on us to make sure that we put not only the programs, but the pathways and the opportunities in place that we. Absolutely. Promoting inclusivity of the game. It's what we have over everyone. And I'm incredibly passionate about it on every single level. And I've been fortunate. I've been around some great people that have taught me the importance, not only the importance of it, but how to do it. And I think that the US have led the way globally on their approach to it. But there's opportunity for more, and I look forward to doing that. And I know that the only way you can have an impact or make a difference is if you have a team approach to it. No one person can do it. So thanks for the question and the reminder. Thank you.

[Andy Roddick]

Adam Ross, USDA Florida. I want to say thank you to Andy, Craig, and you, Brian, of course. Thank you for being here. I would have worn my served hat if I knew I was going to be here. And producer Mike, great job. He literally hasn't done anything.

[Producer Mike]

My computer's turned off.

[Andy Roddick]

But it's a great podcast. It's really awesome. I encourage everyone to check it out. But my question is for Craig. We're so lucky to have you here to join in the usta. What are some of the most exciting things you're looking forward to as you take on the mantle of the usta?

[Craig Tiley]

Well, first of all, like you, I'm still a volunteer because I'm not yet working for the usta. So the most exciting thing is getting to learn more about what it's to be like a volunteer. So the next. Next two months, I'd be doing that. But I. I think, you know, and I hope this doesn't sound cliched, is I love being around people. I love interacting. So the thing I'm most excited about is getting to know everyone, understand what everyone does, find out what the challenges are, where the opportunities are. And I've already spent the last day and a half, I think, speaking to everyone and listening to everyone and identified some things that I think are going to be really fun to work on. So that's the thing that I'm most excited about. And then probably secondly is there's such a big opportunity to make a massive impact, and I would love to walk every street across America and people. And I will know that people in that town are all playing tennis. And so that's not a dream, that's a reality. And we're going to get there.

[Andy Roddick]

Well, thank you. And wishing you the best of luck.

[Craig Tiley]

Thank you.

[Andy Roddick]

So this is. So there's a clock in the back and it says, we're done in 15 seconds, but the two bosses next to me are here. So you guys just tell me, I don't care. I have nothing to do. You guys are busy. I say keep the party going.

[State Farm Announcer]

Hi, I'm Sam Roy. I'm a volunteer from USC Eastern offers. Hi, Andy.

[Andy Roddick]

Hi.

[John]

Enter.

[State Farm Announcer]

Sam is freaking out. I started playing more tennis the year you won the championship, so this is crazy, but. Hi. My question is, as there are currently three men sitting on this stage, Craig have you considered how you will be bringing more women into the leadership of USTA at all levels?

[Craig Tiley]

Absolutely. And maybe I should just give a bit of a snapshot. Back in Australia, when I started in the leadership role, I was a founding member of Champions of Change. And what it was was leaders that were in a position to make decisions is the decisions they made about ensuring that there were more women in senior leadership and more women on boards. And when I did start there, of the 90 section board members, of those, 86 were men. And when I left, 50. 50%. So of the 90, 45 were men and 45 were women on our. On our board. On our board. Similarly, we had. When I started, there was one woman on our board. And again, when I left, there's more women on the board than there are men. And then similarly in our senior leadership team. And so the question comes, and I think the answer is that there's two challenges. Pay equity is one and the other one is women in leadership. And I think it's on everyone, man or woman, to make sure that we're addressing that. And if Billie Jean King was sitting here, she'll tell you those exact two things as well. And I have a great deal of respect for her. I was actually on a USDA committee, a collegiate committee with Billie Jean. We were co chairs back quite a while ago. So I do appreciate and understand it. But thank you for that question and you'll have my commitment, that's for sure.

[State Farm Announcer]

Thank you. I look forward to seeing that.

[Craig Fowler]

I'm Steve Cornell and I've been on the adult competition committee for many years. I'm kind of like a dinosaur on the committee. And Andy, I listen to your show every time it's on while I'm either brushing my teeth or shaving.

[Andy Roddick]

Ouch.

[Craig Fowler]

And I love it. My wife has got to love it, too. And anyway, my thoughts are this. Years ago, we used to have the US Open sectional qualifying tournament. And every player from each section played in. Well, first of all, they played in their sectional tournament. And whoever won that tournament played in a sectional tournament. And this was the sectional championships and it was in Orlando. And that player went on to. Whoever won that from the 16 sections went on to. I'm not sure where, but I'm thinking that the US Open to be really. And Craig, you're such an innovator, you might think this idea is way out there, and it is. But the winner of this sectional qualifying would get a wild card into the qualifying of the US Open. And I can see, you know, Mr. Fowler, and maybe Andy at the broadcast saying, you know, this is really, truly an open tournament. This was open to thousands of players, and now we've whittled down to the final two. But you can you see the marketing of having a player just walking around with a T shirt that said, I played in the US Open qualifying.

[Andy Roddick]

I have a counteroffer, Andy, of course. Okay. I couldn't beat one player in qualifying now, so they have to play me to get in before they get the wild card. And if I beat them, then go home, the line will be out the door. I will tell you, though, I think there is a real opportunity. I think, think the mixed doubles was innovative. I think singles on the pro level is maybe a bit of a different animal. I think maybe there's a lane where there's mixed doubles into mixed doubles, and maybe there's a qualifying and four teams. And I don't know, that would seem more feasible to me than playing some guy serving 147. I don't know that would do much for the argument of you're saying these are great champions and I'm not great at math, but if there are a bunch of sections, I think there's a limitation on the amount of wild cards. Right.

[Craig Fowler]

You'd only have one.

[Andy Roddick]

Well, well, I would beat their ass, and then there'd be zero. I think there's a real lane for the mix or something of that sort. Craig, go ahead, tell them.

[Craig Tiley]

Don't put it. Not singles.

[Andy Roddick]

That's what we do on our show. Come on.

[Craig Tiley]

No, I, I, I agree.

[Andy Roddick]

Singles, but can you see Craig Fowler

[Craig Fowler]

just talking, you know, on, on tv?

[Andy Roddick]

I, I can see him, but then what he would do is he would ask the question to Johnny Mac, and that would be a whole nother ball game. We appreciate your question. Thanks for, thanks for all your time.

[Craig Fowler]

And you look, My wife says you look like a young Bill Clinton.

[Andy Roddick]

A young Bill Clinton. I always get Stifler, but okay. Not you, Craig. Yeah, he was the guy in American Pieces.

[State Farm Announcer]

Hi, I'm Marie. Go Fritz Croco. Craig, Brian previously showed a slide of a statistic that you grew tennis participation in Australia by 30%. What are some specific initiatives that you could implement here that might resonate to the US Audience as well?

[Brian Vahaly]

That's you.

[Craig Tiley]

There's, well, everything's different. They're different. But I think the similarities would be aggressively going off to school tennis. High school tennis was great platforms for growth for us and the introduction of tennis in elementary schools and working through with all the, as part of the in Australia, as part of a curriculum, you have to pick a sport. So we just made sure that one of those, every kid picked tennis as one of their two sports. They did annually. So that's probably the biggest, was the biggest avenue to increase participation. And then with each of the clubs and the coaches is we incentivized the coaches through reward and recognition program on how they grew their programs and how they grew. Sorry, not their program, how they grew their participation and monitoring that and constantly doing reward and recognition around it. So. So there would be a number of different techniques. There are currently some initiatives that are happening here that are making us get to that 27.3 million players, but we're going to have to keep coming up with more to keep again to 35 million because at some point it potentially could slow down and we've got to be ready for that.

[Andy Roddick]

All right, we got, we're going to say last two because I know techie Sean doesn't care about what I say anymore.

[State Farm Announcer]

Andy Craig Chairman. My name is Demeter Curry.

[Brian Vahaly]

Like that.

[Andy Roddick]

How did this happen? How did this happen? Brian?

[State Farm Announcer]

My name is Demita Curry. I'm the volunteer on the advocacy committee and I'm from the Southwest section. My question is to Craig. First of all, thank you so much for saying yes to leading the USTA family. We really appreciate that.

[Craig Tiley]

Thank you. It's a privilege. Thank you.

[State Farm Announcer]

My question, you have transport transformed the Australian Open through fan experiences and innovations. What do you see are the most urgent innovations for the US Open as well as USTA year round programming?

[Brian Vahaly]

How will he answer this?

[Craig Tiley]

No, no.

[Andy Roddick]

No one listens to our show. You're fine.

[Craig Tiley]

Exactly. Yeah, right. We know how that goes. That's a great question. And I think in fairness, that's a question to ask and with a broader team because there's many initiatives that have been planned and some great surprises that are coming up for this year's Open, which I won't talk about because I haven't been told them yet, but I know they're coming, but I think there will be more. One of it is we're thinking of switching the date. Just want to see everyone's reaction. No, not at all. I just want to see if I was listening.

[Andy Roddick]

But it seems like that date's not really working for the tournament.

[Craig Tiley]

No, no, it's not exactly. Exactly. No, no.

[Andy Roddick]

So he might stay a volunteer.

[Craig Tiley]

I did open that up. But there's some great things that the team at the US Open are doing. And the great thing about there's some more opportunity to do some more great things. I would definitely like to see a big connection between the community, a much bigger connection between the community and the openers. Mentioned some of the questions earlier and I think there's an opportunity to do that there. But generally my approach on life is take some, as Andy said, take some big swings, have a go at some things. And I think that the US Open very soon will become not only the most innovative grand slam or innovate tennis event, but easily the most innovative and forward thinking global event.

[State Farm Announcer]

Thank you.

[Andy Roddick]

All right, you're finishing this up. Here we go. And I promise to be quick. My name is Eric from the Mid Atlantic section. Fellow UVA grad Go Hoos Andy. My wife and I were almost newlyweds. We went to the 2001 French Open. We sat and watched you play a four hour second round match against Michael Chang. You started cramping horribly in the fifth set with the claw hand and the faces you wanted. Seven, five. One of the gutsiest matches we've ever seen. Do you remember that match? And what are there other pivotal matches that, that you remember from your career? I'll tell you the coolest thing about that match and thank you for your question. So the way you described it is perfect. I never cramped like that one. I learned about the importance of diet very quickly during that match. But what I'll tell you that nobody saw from that match is we shake hands. And I'll tell you the first match that I ever sat down and watched start to finish in my Life was Chang vs. Lendel at the 1989 French Open of the underhand served fame.

[Craig Tiley]

Right?

[Andy Roddick]

So I saw Chang cramp and win a match. And then I found myself, however many years, 12 years later, carry the 12 years later, doing the exact same thing against him. So it's one of those, that kind of barrage. Those years where you start playing the people that you've idolized will never be normal for me. But what nobody saw is we shook hands and Michael instantly started giving me advice on how to recover from cramps for the next match. And that continued into the locker room after the match. When I'm, you know, trying to get hydrated and do this, he has his bags packed. He's leaving. I mean, at that point in his career, I don't know if he knew that he was coming back to this place that had defined so much of his legacy. And on the way out the door, you know, he found it, he found it that he should come to us and give us five or ten minutes of his Time on best practices on how to recover for the next one before saying, good match and good luck. Right. Not bitter that I was making a whole show of it. Not bitter that I had cramped and somehow got through it. But the power of tennis is like, that's why I'm obsessed with this game, is like those moments that nobody sees. My takeaways from this panel.

[Craig Tiley]

Before you go, can guests ask questions?

[John]

Sure.

[Andy Roddick]

We don't know what we're doing. Go ahead.

[Craig Tiley]

Free flowing. Is that all right, Mike? That's okay. Good. Okay. Actually, this is not planned, by the way, so.

[Andy Roddick]

But none of it was.

[Craig Tiley]

No, but I. I just. I want to ask you a question because that question about that particular match, but then also a bit about the unicell NIMI match. But when in 1990, I was in Abilene, Texas, with a group of young Texas players. Your brother was playing.

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, they're from Connecticut.

[Craig Tiley]

And I drove from Tyler, Texas. It's a very interesting drive. There's lots to see. But when. But there was a young kid, a young blonde kid. The Roddick family was at this event. There was a young blonde kid hitting against the wall. I think he was seven or eight years old. Roundabout then, and I remember clearly that I think I got the kids in the van. We went to get somebody. We came back, and you were still hitting against the wall. It was like you were trying to beat the wall. You're breathing out. You were going crazy. And then I had the privilege of watching in 2003, in the fifth set, you playing NSL Inoue in what then in the Open era, was the longest fifth set ever on record. I think he ended up winning. That match was over 2, was 23, 21 or something like that.

[Andy Roddick]

2119. 2119, which sounded like a big number before Isner and Mahood decided not to break each other for days.

[Craig Tiley]

Yeah, but that was tennis. The Illinois match. But what advice would you give young kids That's a little bit about the bookend of your story and the effort and just the amount of intensity you put into everything you did. But what advice would you give young kids today that are thinking about the game?

[Andy Roddick]

Yeah, I mean, I hear a lot about courts, and I hear a lot about. And all of those things are true. Obviously, if there's more hours in the day and lights are up, you're gonna get more participation. And if you go to a place and it's. It feels good and they don't have cracks and it feels worthy of your time, all of those things matter and Also, if there's a wall available, paint a net on it. Honestly, the simple things and the things I've written down, the biggest thing, whether it's participation, whether it's how to grow the game, it comes down to points of exposure. It comes down to you mentioned in schools or is it taking someone and they're inspired because they watch tennis for the first time? We don't care how people get into tennis. I don't care. I mean, maybe, maybe you have ideas, we may have a preference. As long as they have a positive memory to your point, they're going to come back to it. And this is where I need to give credit to this room. Right? There's 1,100 people here. I think 90 plus percent are volunteers. Staff. It starts with you in this room. So give yourselves a round of applause for your contribution to chemistry. Us with the microphones and talking trash and having fun and doing all this. It doesn't happen without you starting a fire on the ground level. So thank you for having me. Best of luck. Craig, Brian, enjoy someone else doing the job so you can maybe spend some more time with your beautiful kids. How are you guys not on roller coasters? All right?

[John]

Brian.

[Brian Vahaly]

They already were.

[Andy Roddick]

Okay. They were. They were Splash Mountain 77 times.

[Craig Tiley]

Yep.

[Andy Roddick]

Good luck with everything. Craig. I've said on our show before, but if you were willing. No brainer of a hire in my mind based on your credentials and what you've done. I even say that when you're not around. But also thank you to you all for the time that you put into this great game that, that we all love. This has been served. We'll see you next week. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built on. With the ServiceNow AI platform. Your AI data and workflows all work together, connecting every corner of your business. To see how you can put AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com AI agents. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Brewing Company. No matter how you do game day, on the couch, in the crowd or manning the snack table, Athletic Brewing fits right in with a full lineup of non alcoholic beer styles you can enjoy

[Brian Vahaly]

Bold flavors all game long.

[Andy Roddick]

No hangovers, no buzz, no subbing out for water. In the second half, stock the fridge for tip off with a variety of non alcoholic craft styles. Available at your local grocery store or online at athleticbrewing.com near Beer Fit for all times.

[State Farm Announcer]

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