Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley addresses link to US Open ahead of home slam featuring Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

The PTPA launched legal action against tennis’ governing bodies, including the ATP and WTA and the four majors, in March last year, based on claims of “anti-competitive practices and a blatant disregard for player welfare”.

The lawsuit is ongoing, but the union filed a letter to the US Southern District Court in November that it was close to reaching a deal with Tennis Australia, which confirmed the development at the time.

Tiley said he was restricted on what he could say but that a deal was hopefully “imminent”.

“What I can say is that we decided as an organisation early on that if we’ve got to expend resources … we would much rather make it in compensating the players and growing the game than we would in legal fees and damages,” he said.

Players will compete for a record $111.5 million prizemoney at this month’s Open, while Tiley and co have dramatically increased the entertainment and dining experience, including bringing leading international brands into the Melbourne Park precinct.

He expects attendance at next week’s “Opening Week” to match that of the tournament’s first week a decade ago, despite the qualifying events effectively being the only competitive tennis on offer.

The week’s festivities include a first-ever opening ceremony next week on the Saturday night, headlined by Roger Federer, before main draw matches begin the next day, January 18.

Tiley also said this year was the first in TA’s ambitious five-year strategy for the sport to be ranked first or second in participation, develop more champions, and turn the Australian Open into a billion-dollar operation.

“We want to provide opportunities for the professional players and fans to experience something they never have before,” he said.

“We continue to be Australia’s biggest event, and will be one of the world’s biggest annual events. We plan to own January from a sport and entertainment point of view – not just from tennis. We’ve got some big plans.”

Tiley agreed with world No.1 and dual Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka’s comments about the “insane” year-round tennis schedule and said the sport needed a proper off-season and more rest periods, but that there was not a simple fix.

He will not grant Daniil Medvedev’s wish for the Open’s night sessions to start an hour earlier than the 7pm slot, saying the broadcast agreement with Nine, the owner of this masthead, did not permit that.

“We used to start at 7.45pm, and now we start at 7pm, so we grabbed some time there,” he said.

“We do everything we possibly can because we are very mindful of player welfare and the fact that none of us wants to finish at ridiculous times in the morning.”

The on-court coaching pods will be back, but will look different from last year, while Tiley promised other innovations that are set to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

“We’re on a three-year journey of presenting the game differently for the world,” Tiley said.

“It’ll be seen more next year, but we’re going to set a new standard of what the future of the game is going to look like, from an experience point of view for the on-site fan, and someone watching at home.”

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