South Africa's "rejected" CRAIG TILEY has again received universal praise for his handling of an AUSTRALIAN OPEN tennis tournament - and this one, he says, was

"undoubtedly the most difficult." Faced with unending obstacles which threatened the very existence of the opening Grand Slam event of the year because of the coronavirus pandemic,

the born-and-bred South African, who ended up in Australia in 2005 after Tennis South Africa rejected his master plan to revive the country's stature in the sport as being too costly

and ambitious, has since devastatingly disproven these sentiments. Firstly, after becoming tournament director of the ever-improving and acclaimed Australian Open in 2006, and then when he

the problem-riddled proceedings as "definitely the most difficult I have faced, but ultimately the most challenging  and satisfying as well." First postponed from the traditional

starting date in mid-January, with players isolated before and during the two-week tournament and the strictly limited spectator presence threatened for five days during the middle of the

event itself after an added coronavirus scare in Melbourne, Tiley was landed with the additional task of organising the safety and welfare of 600 players, technical staff, assistants,

officials, umpires, ball boys and girls and such-like. And the fact that the tournament was completed without a single major outbreak at the tournament itself or at the accompanying areas

was quite awesome and as satisfying as anything that had been hoped to materialise - or even feared. Little wonder Djokovic and Osaka led the plaudits for the 59-year-old Tiley and his army

of helpers in maintaining the high standards of one of the world's great tennis events under such difficult circumstances, with only a tinge of regret, perhaps, with the recollection

that his tennis organisational skills had been summarily dismissed in the country of his birth.