{"id":446325,"date":"2026-01-30T01:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T01:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/446325\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T01:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T01:34:15","slug":"officially-jayne-hrdlicka-has-left-tennis-australia-in-reality-its-a-different-story-as-craig-tiley-rumours-persist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/446325\/","title":{"rendered":"Officially, Jayne Hrdlicka has left Tennis Australia. In reality, it\u2019s a different story as Craig Tiley rumours persist"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 30, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

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When tallying up which personalities have attended the Australian Open the most often, this column\u2019s statisticians think it\u2019s a toss-up between a) AFL golden couple Josh Daicos and Annalise Dalins; and b) Jayne Hrdlicka.<\/p>\n

The former Tennis Australia chair officially left the governing body when her term expired before going on to lead the ASX-listed liquor giant Endeavour Group on January 1. But it would appear that the new gig has not precluded her from weighing in on Tennis Australia\u2019s decision-making \u2013 at arm\u2019s length, of course.<\/p>\n

\"JayneJayne Hrdlicka and Josh Frydenberg in the crowd at the Australian Open last week.Fiona Hamilton \/ Tennis Australia<\/p>\n

Hrdlicka is not on the books in any capacity at Tennis Australia, which runs the Open. So imagine our surprise when we heard she is still advising the organisation, according to two sources familiar with her arrangement, speaking to Open Season on the condition of anonymity to tell us things that they shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

What is unclear, however, is whether the Endeavour boss \u2013 who has taken on a role few in corporate Australia would be envious of, given the waning patience of its investors for better results \u2013 is advising Tennis Australia\u2019s board or its chief executive, Craig Tiley.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Hrdlicka] is providing advice on request on some strategy matters re global tennis,\u201d a Tennis Australia spokesman told Open Season, officially confirming the unofficial relationship.<\/p>\n

Certainly, her ongoing presence at the Australian Open has been noted around the grounds at Melbourne Park by obsessives such as ourselves. Hrdlicka\u2019s presence in the premium stands has even rivalled Melbourne\u2019s fame-hungry influencers for frequency. It\u2019s giving John and Janette Howard at the Sydney 2000 Olympics vibes.<\/p>\n

Hrdlicka was a guest of her successor, Chris Harrop, now chair of Tennis Australia<\/a>, at the organisation\u2019s exclusive O lounge on the first night of competition.<\/p>\n

And last week, Hrdlicka was in the stands alongside her old favourite, former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, before joining Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge to watch Italy\u2019s Jannik Sinner take on Aussie James Duckworth the following day.<\/p>\n

Most recently, on Wednesday night, she was back, perched only a stone\u2019s throw from Harrop, to watch Sinner face off with the United States\u2019 Ben Shelton.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Australian<\/a><\/p>\n

Hrdlicka\u2019s omnipresence at Tennis Australia is concurrent with, but not causal to, the swirling chatter surrounding the governing body, as speculation about Tiley\u2019s future intrigues everyone from corporate guests at the Club 1905 to the ballkids.<\/p>\n

As regular readers would already be aware, Tiley is in the frame to run the US Open.<\/p>\n

In the opening days of the tournament, we revealed that Tiley has a contract in his hot little hands, with not so much as a whisper from his employer on the situation.<\/p>\n

But with Hrdlicka still in the picture, and Tiley\u2019s future an open question, behind-the-scenes movement at Tennis Australia is equal to the Open\u2019s on-court action.<\/p>\n

Marriott eyes Open riches<\/p>\n

Silver service banquets. A parade of celebrities and sporting greats. Front-row seats.<\/p>\n

The Australian Open has become a carnival for the nation\u2019s biggest brands to spend big to woo clients and win customers, with a view to taking a slice of the riches that flow in and around the premier tennis event each year.<\/p>\n

This year has been no different. The Open\u2019s major sponsors \u2013 which include hotel operator Marriott, big four bank ANZ, and the Emirates airline \u2013 have each been jostling to win over a rotating cast of influentials and hangers-on.<\/p>\n

And in the telling of Marriott\u2019s regional vice president, Jason Nuell, the tournament has already yielded some tangible upside.<\/p>\n

\"JasonJason Nuell, of Marriott International, and Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley.<\/p>\n

He said the company\u2019s 10 hotels across Melbourne were at 90 per cent occupancy heading into the finals weekend, with the average income pocketed per room up about 17 per cent this year, particularly across Marriott\u2019s luxury hotels, such as the Ritz-Carlton.<\/p>\n

But Nuell predictably kept his cards close to his chest when asked what sort of windfall the company expected the Australian Open to deliver the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to put a value on \u2026 because there\u2019s obviously the room nights, but then it\u2019s not just about driving occupancy in hotels,\u201d Nuell told Open Season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s the incredible brand awareness. And there\u2019s all of the opportunities that you can give to members. So I think to try to come up with a value would be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Marriott, the hospitality has been targeted at members flush with points. The hotel operator has been running what it calls \u201cMarriott unique experiences\u201d, running the gamut from finals game tickets to \u201cbehind the scenes tours\u201d, which promise guests a walk through private player areas, and, of course, the company\u2019s private hospitality lounge.<\/p>\n

Those on the list can look forward to a \u201cpre-match dining experience\u201d courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton in Melbourne, and the company of former AO champion and world No.1 Ash Barty, whom the hotel has had on its books as an ambassador for the past four years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Dawn Fraser, Wally Lewis toast Hall of Fame<\/p>\n

As the men\u2019s and women\u2019s finals draw closer, the Australian Open has been heaving not just with the biggest names in world tennis, but with some of the most influential names in sport across Australia.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, some of the nation\u2019s hall-of-famers descended on the Emirates marquee on the doorstep of Rod Laver Arena to celebrate 40 years of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Editor’s pick\"Opposition<\/a><\/p>\n

Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser joined America\u2019s Cup-winning skipper John Bertrand and rugby league immortal Wally Lewis among a packed list of key guests invited by the airline. They were joined by a trio of Olympic gold medallists \u2013 pole vaulter Steve Hooker, Lauren Burns, who in 2000 won Australia\u2019s first gold medal in taekwondo, and former Australian rower Nick Green \u2013 along with English cricket legend Ian Botham.<\/p>\n

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"StephenStephen Brook<\/a> is a special correspondent for The Age and CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously deputy editor of The Sunday Age. He is a former media editor of The Australian and spent six years in London working for The Guardian.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"JohnJohn Buckley<\/a> is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January 30, 2026 \u2014 5:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-446325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}