Draper will end his seven-year tenure at the helm at the end of this month and, after the LTA's chief operating officer Nick Humby serves an interim period in charge, Downey will start in January after first relocating to the United Kingdom.

After previously holding a series of executive positions, including for Canada's largest brewery, Molson Canada, the 56-year-old has spent the last nine years as President and chief executive of Tennis Canada.

He has presided over a period of significant growth at both grassroots and elite levels in Canada, epitomised by the men's team reaching the semi-finals of the Davis Cup in 2013.

Sterner tests should be expected in his new post due to the huge expectations in the game on British shores.

Downey is, however, looking forward to the challenges ahead.

"This is a huge privilege for me, at a fantastic time for British tennis," he admitted.

"We have a tremendous opportunity in front of us, and it is an honour to be able to lead the work of the LTA in getting more people playing tennis."

Michael Downey, here congratulating Canadian number one Milos Raonic during Canada's Davis Cup victory over Spain in February, will move to the LTA from a similar role in his native Canada

Downey's predecessor Draper attracted much criticism during his seven years in charge, particularly for his salary which, when bonuses and pension contributions were included, totalled £640,000 ($1,000,000/€760,000) per year.

He was also slammed for eventually backtracking on his twin objectives of overhauling the Wimbledon wildcard system which granted British players automatic entry, as well as the introduction of high-profile overseas coaches including Paul Annacone and Brad Gilbert.

In December 2012, Baroness Billingham, chair of the All-Party Tennis Group, said that "the LTA is one of the wealthiest sporting organisations in the country and it's my honest and genuine opinion that they are useless".

She also described Draper's salary as "unthinkable".

However, since these words the sport has experienced the boost of British number one Andy Murray winning Wimbledon - the first home winner of the foremost prize in the sport since 1936, as well as successes at grassroots level.

The LTA claimed in July that there had been a 100 per cent increase on the previous year of people playing tennis with 36,000 players registering on its website.

Andy Murray becoming the first British winner of Wimbledon since 1936 has contributed to grassroots improvements in the sport over recent months


In comparison to Draper's salary Downey will be paid £300,000 ($455,000/€380,000) annually, with a chance to earn up to 30 per cent more in bonuses if he meets performance targets.

The LTA chairman David Gregson was also full of confidence that the correct appointment had been made.

"We set out to recruit a chief executive with true success in business, with exceptional leadership credentials and ideally with significant knowledge of tennis," he explained.

"Michael demonstrably fits the bill perfectly and was the unanimous choice of our recruitment panel."