Australian Open chief executive Craig Tiley was unexpectedly put on the spot during the presentation ceremony for the Australian Open mixed doubles final.
Australian wildcards John Peers and Olivia Gadecki, who beat French pair Kristina Mladenovic and Manuel Guinard 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 (tie-breaker), won the event for the second successive year.
Olivia Gadecki and John Peers in action against Kristina Mladenovic and Manuel Guinard.Credit: Chris Hopkins
But Tiley was caught by surprise when Mladenovic asked him during her speech whether this year would be his last Australian Open.
The long-time CEO, who was standing nearby, animatedly shook his head from side to side.
We are not sure if that meant “no” or “don’t ask me that question”.
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Tiley has been strongly linked to a new role running the US Open. He has so far refused to speak to the speculation.
But after his on-court reaction, Mladenovic quickly side-stepped.
“I don’t know what your plans are in the future, but I want you to know that you have made this tournament great,” she said.
“I hope you stay, or the tournament is improving as always.”
There were no such questions from Gadecki, 23, and 37-year-old Peers. Instead, they thanked each other for going back-to-back in the mixed.
“I knew we could do it, but I didn’t think we could really do it,” Gadecki said.
Peers has made a career of being a doubles specialist. He won the 2017 Australian Open doubles with Henri Kontinen, of Estonia, defeating the Bryan brothers – Bob and Mike.
