“It was over”: the former CEO of the Australian Open confirmed that the tournament was close to moving its headquarters

He Australian Openthe first Grand Slam tournament of the season, has been held in the city of Melbourne uninterruptedly since 1972. However, the former CEO of the tournament, Craig Tileyconfirmed that a few years ago this major was in the details of moving its headquarters. Where, he says, the chance of leaving the country was even considered.

In dialogue with the Australian media SENwho today leads the USTA (United States Tennis Association), said: ““If the Victorian Government didn’t invest in more development, we would have been gone in 2017. It was ending in 2016, and there was a lot of interest from the city of Sydney, from the city of Shanghai.”

As you well expressed Tileyhe Australian Open It ended up being saved thanks to the investment of the state government of Victoria, which transformed the permanence of the event on its land into an almost governmental issue. Between 1972 and 1987, it was the suburb of Kooyong that hosted the Grand Slam, later moving to Melbourne Park today.

“The Victorian government made a very good decision at the time to increase their investment, they put in a billion dollars. Half of it was specifically for the tennis players. The other half was an overall improvement for the venue” concluded the former Australian CEO on the major oceanic.

It should be noted that between 2022 and 2023, rumors of a move reappeared. But back then it had been the Middle East with its big wallet that wanted to take the venue from Melbourne. But both the Victorian minister and Tiley reaffirmed the financial support that was needed to improve the tournament and avoid a change that would have been historic.