The Grill: Australian Open boss Craig Tiley

The Australian Open has been full of headline making incidents, from the capsicum spray incident with Greek fans, to the new Plexicushion courts, to the dramatic Saturday night which saw Lleyton Hewitt win a match after 4am. Craig Tiley is the tournament director and has been answering plenty of questions. He answers more on The Serve.

Thanks for joining us, Craig.

Pleasure. Always enjoy speaking with the media.

It�s certainly been a lively Australian Open. What are your thoughts on the event so far?

Well, I think the critics turned up ready to spend the fortnight bagging our new courts as well as the weather. We�re, what, nine days into the tournament and I�ve hardly heard a thing about either. Tremendous result.

Isn�t that because of things such as crowd violence, late finishes and players threatening to quit the event?

The crowd violence happened on one night, the other two happened on another. Seven days out of nine ain�t bad, I would�ve thought.

I want to ask you about the Hewitt/Baghdatis match. Didn�t you say just days before that an 11.00pm curfew was in place?

Yes I did.

So how do you explain a match that starts just before midnight?

Oh, the curfew isn�t 11 o�clock Australian time! Ha. No, we operate on European time now.

But so many Australians missed out on seeing the match�

Have you seen the ratings? 85% of the people watching TV at 4am were watching Channel Seven! Eighty-five percent!! Video Hits, The Mint, Rage, the test pattern on SBS, you name it, we didn�t just beat them, we bloody destroyed them.

Look, I�ve read so many positive e-mails from around the world. The Europeans and the Americans were so happy they got to see a high quality match in such a good timeslot.

What about the negative e-mails.

Haven�t seen any negative e-mails.

Are you telling me not one person has complained about a marquee match finishing at 4:35am?

Perhaps they have. I�m a busy man, so I get my PA to weed out the negative ones. I must catch up with her actually, last night she was held back at the office for some reason until 4.30am.

From the miscommunications to the late finish, the night really was a mess. What lessons did you take from it?

Oh, I think it�s given us a tremendous opportunity. We�re always looking to expand the event in any way we can. So I�m proud to announce that from next year, the Australian Open is going to have a brand new schedule.

New schedule?

Yeah. 6am starts for matches involving Americans, perfect for ESPN, while we�ll hold back the Europeans, such as Nadal and Federer, until midnight. I�m thinking of calling it �The Midnight Match�. We can market it and everything.

Clever name.

Well, I�m an ideas man.

But aren�t you forgetting that this is in fact the Australian Open?

Hey, we�ve already proven we can own that timeslot. Are you going to argue with 85 percent?

Ah, no. Is it true Venus Williams threatened to quit the tournament if her match with Sania Mirza was shifted?

Certainly not. Boy, this story has taken a life of its own ever since a couple of journo�s spotted me talking to her in the corridors.

So, you can categorically state that Venus did not threaten to walk�

No, she didn�t. Venus did tell me in quite graphic detail that if I moved her to Vodafone, she�d throw me to the ground, jam my head between her thighs and snap my �little boy� neck, but she didn�t threaten to walk, no.

With rumours the Australian Open could be moved to China, you hastily announced renovations to Melbourne Park. What can we expect to see?

First thing: A whole bunch of new corridors. After that, um, I�m not sure yet.

You mentioned e-mails before. Does any one message stand out?

Yes, it came from China.

China?

Yeah, actually it was from the Chinese Tennis Federation.

Really? What did it say?

It said �Congratulations Craig, It�s been a big week for you. It�s been an even bigger week�for us. May you run the tournament for many years.�

Thanks Craig.

It also said �and can you tell McNamee he�s doing great with the golf and he should stick with it�.

Interview may not have actually happened.

The Grill: Elka Graham