Tennis relationship: “I never imagined that one day I would work in tennis”
“I have been playing tennis since I was little. I have played the interclubs wherever I lived in the United States in Singapore, Australia. I have capped at a very modest level of C15 in Belgium (laughs). I love this sport but I never imagined that one day I would work in tennis. I studied civil engineering in Louvain-la-Neuve, and then I started my career. Very quickly, I realized that I wanted to work in business more than in engineering. So I completed my training in the United States. After that, I was launched more in the world of business, I did strategy advice, and then I worked in different industries, in airlines, in digital. “
Travel: “The ambition with my wife to discover the world”
“I started my career in Belgium, but my wife and I met very young, and we always had this ambition to discover the world. We promised that as soon as opportunities arise, we would take. boys who were born in Belgium, we are still there. “
Belgian-Australian rivalry: “the heart is in Belgium”
“The heart is still in Belgium. Family, we get up at night to support the Red Devils. I know that Belgium can meet Australia in the Davis Cup in September in September (Editor's note: if Belgium beats Chile and Australia Sweden in early February). It would be a bigger dilemma than in football, since my role is notably the promotion of tennis in Australia. The performances of the Davis Cup team and the Billie Jean King Cup team have a great impact on the popularity of tennis in the country. But I don't fear this match. It can be nice. “
Australian situation: “growing tennis”
“Tennis is growing in Australia: we see it in terms of participation, course reservations, affiliations. We have a good dynamic, we are helped by the performances of players. For the moment, mainly on the male side . Open of Australia, including 10 % from abroad and 25 % of other Australian states.
Australia tennis: “a winning bet”
“At the end of the pandemic, I was lucky to be able to meet Craig Tiley, CEO of Australia tennis and director of the Australian Open. He was very worried about the future of tennis and major events. Caisses Australia Tennis were empty. Conversations, they asked me if I wanted to implement everything I had talked about. turned out to be a winning bet. “
towerJanuary is a very busy month. My Christmas celebrations are very short.
Boulot (1): “A dream job”
“It is a dream job. I am in a job that allows me to combine this passion for discovery of the world with that for tennis. The objective of the federation is that more people play tennis. And also support for performance. But also the United Cup, the International Brisbane and the International Adelaide. fans have the best possible experience.
Boulot (2): “TV rights, partnership, ticket office”
“We have 500 permanent employees at Tennis Australia (up to 120,000 during the tournament). It is not that the preparation of a three -week event. The Australian Open generates 500 million euros in income each year. Can be drawn from it. 'Other aspects of my work where I do not have the experience and I trust my team. “
Open Australia: “AO is more than tennis”
“The nickname of the Australian Open is The Happy Slam. Our event is much more than tennis. There are shows, bars, etc. People come to have fun. So much. . “
-Good momentum: “a million visitors”
“We are at our fourth post-pandemic event which was very successful. The events continued to grow. We will exceed one million visitors this year. We will exceed two billion viewers. The income is growing, this which allows us to support tennis at any level and its development. “
Three weeks: “120,000 spectators in qualifiers”
“One of my pride is that we have gone from an event of two to three weeks. The qualification week is a real week of events. 120,000 people came to see it. We also want the quintuplet Quantity and the quality of the content we put on social networks.
Great chelems: “Make tennis grow together”
“We often work with the other great chelems; we learn from each other. We have some joint projects, in order to continue to make tennis grow. We really have this feeling of responsibility. We are the four biggest events Tennis in the world.
Avenir: “Green Energy for AO”
“We work really hard to be the big home that is the most innovative. We have the measurement of customer satisfaction every day and every day a return of the fans. We did a lot of work so that our hospitality is one of the best in world. The Australian Open is provided exclusively in green energy.
Pressure: “Optimizing the year over four weeks”
“My work is extremely rewarding but where there is undoubtedly a little pressure is that our year is played on three or four weeks, during which we absolutely have to optimize everything. And these four weeks were prepared during a year.
Belgium: “Help with pleasure”
“I heard what happened for the BW Open (canceled this year). Could I bring my experience to help Belgian tennis? Of course. If, one day, there is an opportunity to help Belgium or federations, even an event, it would be with pleasure. The tennis calendar is quite difficult. So I understand how complex it is to have an event in Belgium. But if I could help, it would be with the greatest pleasure. I am always open to new experiences. My goal has always been to continue to learn and discover new things. So I will always have an extremely open mind. “
Australian Open-Sabalenka comes out badosa without surprise and will face Keys in the final, falling from Swiatek in an epic match! Australian Open-Ben Shelton is surprised to find himself in the semi-finals: “Child, I was a little strong. Not big, But heavy “
