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Tennis fans at Melbourne Park this week. Victoria has spent more than $1 billion to secure the Australian Open since 2011.Credit: Eddie Jim<\/p>\n
But Harrop, now responsible for Australia\u2019s national tennis body, is keenly aware that such success offers little protection in an increasingly competitive global sporting market where well-funded rivals target major tournaments and the executives who run them.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one is immune from global competition, but the heritage of the slams is extremely deep,\u201d Harrop said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBut we don\u2019t take anything for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harrop, 63, likes a social hit of tennis and first attended the Australian Open in 1988 manning an Adidas stand. While tennis purists may bristle at the tournament\u2019s focus on food, fashion and entertainment, he makes few apologies for its evolution.<\/p>\n
In an era of cashed-up disruptors like LIV Golf, tennis grand slams, he says, cannot rely on tradition alone.<\/p>\n
The competition, he says, is \u201cvery serious\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look around the world, the investment in sporting infrastructure…in all sports and countries is breathtaking. Sport is the place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to be engaged in playing sport, watching sport, so a lot of money flows to that and competition keeps getting stiffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Alex de Minaur trains at Melbourne Park.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the important thing is that we keep pioneering and not copying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once a tennis tournament, the Australian Open is now a cultural festival where headline bands, high-end hospitality and prestige beauty retailer Mecca sit alongside world-class matches.<\/p>\n
But if there is one thing that may appease tennis traditionalists, it would be more singles success for local players.<\/p>\n
Ash Barty\u2019s 2022 win ended a 44-year drought for Australian women, but Mark Edmondson remains the last local men\u2019s champion, in 1976.<\/p>\n
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Ash Barty celebrates winning the Australian Open in 2022.Credit: AP<\/p>\n
It is a long way from the dominance of the Open era\u2019s early years \u2014 and a reminder of what has been missing as the tournament has evolved.<\/p>\n
That reality puts renewed focus on Tennis Australia\u2019s role as both event owner and national governing body, responsible for not only organising the Australian Open but also for developing future champions.<\/p>\n
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Through its high-performance and pathway programs, TA oversees everything from junior identification to elite coaching. For Harrop, the challenge is ensuring those systems are strong enough to keep Australia\u2019s best young athletes in tennis as competition from rival sports intensifies.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s top-ranked male player, Alex de Minaur<\/a>, spent much of his formative development in Spain, while leading young prospect Maya Joint has trained primarily in the United States.<\/a><\/p>\n Harrop is confident tennis fans won\u2019t have to wait too long before another Aussie wins their local grand slam, hoping de Minaur will make it to the final weekend of the tournament.<\/p>\n He said Australia\u2019s challenge is not a lack of talent, but keeping elite athletes in the sport as competition from football, basketball and other popular codes intensifies.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want more people playing tennis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst, we get them [talented kids] really early. Secondly, you actually give them exposure to competitive matches…not just having a hit. Those kids with real talent like to win.\u201d<\/p>\n Maya Joint switched to Australia from the US.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n According to Tennis Australia, participation continues to grow with more than 1.35 million Australians playing tennis in 2024\u201325, driven by increases in school programs, junior engagement and casual games. Under his chairmanship, Harrop wants tennis to become the most played sport in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to build the base of the pyramid,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Loading<\/p>\n Harrop\u2019s push to grow participation and improve facilities is grounded in a belief that access to sporting infrastructure matters. Growing up on a dairy farm on the west coast of New Zealand\u2019s North Island, he was not exposed to elite tennis programs, but his local community hall had a table tennis table.<\/p>\n By the time he was a teenager, he was playing national tournaments.<\/p>\n But elite sport wasn\u2019t his path. After studying business at university in Dunedin, Harrop started working at IBM – where he met his wife – before joining global strategy consulting firm Bain & Company.<\/p>\n His passion, he says, has always been addressing challenges and innovating.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s how do you grow a business that customers just want more of?\u201d<\/p>\n That philosophy now shapes his approach to Tennis Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s our reputation as Tennis Australia, as an innovator.<\/p>\n \u201cI am serious when I have an aspiration…for it to be the best event in the world. I don\u2019t see why it can\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more on the Australian Open<\/p>\n Follow our live Australian Open blog each day from January 18 for results, news, analysis and interviews.<\/p>\n![\"Maya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/15b41cd594e6aab4f700cdab0d1b3755eda79a56.jpeg\")
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