'Not giving ourselves the best chance': Tournament director says Tennis Australia should 'embrace' past champions
Former Australian player and tournament director Peter Johnston has shared what it takes to be a tournament director and offered solutions to help Tennis Australia develop its player pathway.
Johnston, 66, is an experienced tournament director currently in the role at the ATP 250 Hangzhou Open and the WTA 250 Hong Kong Open, as well as the Kooyong Classic leading up to the Australian Open each year.
Speaking on The First Serve Live on SEN, the Melburnian is of the view that Australian past champions should be granted more opportunities at Tennis Australia to stamp their mark on the state of the sport.
"I just feel like there's this massive network of player greats who can still contribute, and they don't all have to be on the payroll, but what would be wrong with forming a new player development board with people who have spoken out like Cashy [Pat Cash], Mark Woodforde, Paul McNamee and Darren Cahill; what a wealth of talent," said Johnston.
"Just having them overseeing player development can't hurt, because the board itself might struggle to oversee it, and Andrew [Abdo] in his first days will struggle to oversee it.
One of those names mentioned was former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, who has continually called for change at Tennis Australia, previously calling the governing body a "boys' club".
"We have nobody on the board of Tennis Australia who's ever played tennis," said Cash earlier this year. "When you've got all businessmen who have no experience in player development, I don't believe we're getting the opinions of the experts that are here in Australia.
"We've got a dozen of them who have coached or played in Davis Cup and are super experts, and yet businessmen get hired.
"We've got absolutely no tennis acumen in the board or player development. There's a new CEO and tournament director coming in; it needs to be someone involved in tennis."
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Johnston says that people like Cash are willing to roll up their sleeves and help guide Australian tennis in a new direction.
"Cashy has probably been criticised sometimes, but he's been coming out just totally passionate, and what a role he can potentially play," Johnston said.
"Darren [Cahill] the same, Macca [McNamee] with clay courts... these guys would love to be involved, but I think you have to find a way, because why not?
"They can then put some checks and balances, because otherwise we're not allowing that information to come in, so we're not giving ourselves the best chance by not embracing those people."
View the full chat below with Brett Phillips on Monday's show:
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On Thursday during the 2027 Australian Open Launch, Abdo was announced as the tournament director for January's Grand Slam event.
Without a tennis background, it is vital that the ex-NRL boss has the right people around him for support, according to Johnston.
"There are certain aspects [of the tournament director role]. I see from his background [that] clearly there's a strength in broadcasting, but then there's also the nuances of you actually broadcasting in a range of countries," he explained.
"There are so many aspects that require seniority and understanding... There are staff, relations teams, people who look after transport... the tennis is a bit hierarchical where there's an expectation that the Tours have tournament director orientations. There is a big approval process, and the Tours direct all their correspondence to that tournament director, because that's their job.
"You kind of do need that history in the game, so [Abdo] will rely heavily on the team that's there... because we're a man down now with Craig [Tiley]."
Watch Johnston's full assessment of the tournament director role below:
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