Australian Open Chief Craig Tiley Defends Crowd Conduct Amid Djokovic and Collins Controversy

Craig Tiley, the chief executive of the Australian Open, has asserted that the 2025 crowd exhibited one of the best behaviours in the tournament’s history, even amidst criticism from certain players during the event.

A staggering 1.2 million attendees made their way through the gates at Melbourne Park during the 15-day tournament, with Tiley noting that the number of evictions was lower than ever.

However, there were a number of notable incidents involving unruly behaviour among fans, particularly after Novak Djokovic’s retirement in the semi-finals and during American Danielle Collins’ match in the first week.

In an appearance on Nine’s Today on Monday morning, Tiley expressed his belief that Australian tennis fans were unparalleled globally.

“The majority of spectators behaved exceptionally well … I believe they are the best fans worldwide,” he stated.

“I visited a couple of months back for the Davis Cup in Spain, and the crowd experience there is completely different,” Tiley noted.

“We feel that the fans conducted themselves very well. The number of evictions was the lowest we’ve seen.

“There’s always a small minority that may cause disruptions. We made it clear that if anyone behaved poorly, they would be removed from the venue, and we did have to take action with a few individuals.

“But the number was smaller than any previous year, so overall we were satisfied with the crowd’s conduct.”

Among the final fans removed from the venue was a woman during the presentation after the men’s singles final, who interrupted Alexander Zverev’s speech with chants of “Australia believes Olga and Brenda,” regarding domestic violence allegations against the German player.

Earlier in the tournament, Collins had voiced her frustration about “super drunk” fans who flocked to watch her second-round matchup with Australian Destanee Aiava. She engaged with the crowd during the match, but her celebrations post-match only fuelled tensions.

In a response, she blew a kiss at the crowd, motioned for them to kiss her bottom, and sarcastically thanked them for their part in her “big fat pay cheque.”

Aiava claimed that it felt more like a rugby league crowd was attending her match. During her third-round encounter against the eventual champion Madison Keys, Collins faced relentless booing.

British player Jack Draper remarked that he received the “harshest abuse” he had ever encountered, though he admitted to thriving on such energy.

Additionally, players have expressed discontent with the bar set up next to Court 6, designed similarly to the ‘party holes’ seen in LIV Golf events.

On Friday, the Rod Laver Arena audience faced backlash for booing Djokovic after his retirement at the conclusion of the first set against Zverev in the semi-finals.

Zverev and tennis legend John McEnroe were among those openly criticising the crowd’s behaviour.

Always the crowd’s antagonist, Djokovic had previously interacted with fans during his third-round match against Tomas Machac.

Tiley acknowledged that “booing is disliked by all,” but argued that the fans were expressing frustration over the situation rather than directing it at Djokovic himself—an opinion he shared with the Serbian player.

“That first set was incredible—it lasted nearly an hour and a half,” Tiley commented. “The crowd were more upset that they would miss out on what could have been one of the greatest matches at Melbourne Park.

“From my conversations with Novak and the other players, they felt that the booing was not aimed directly at them, but stemmed from disappointment in that moment. Fans were genuinely enjoying themselves and eager for more tennis … but ideally, we’d prefer to avoid such reactions.”