Roger Draper's decision to step down comes after one of the most outstanding years in the history of British tennis, both on and off court.
2012 saw great success for Britain’s junior and senior players, including Grand Slam titles and Olympic and Paralympic medals. There was also significant growth in the number of people playing tennis, including an 18% rise in the number of adults playing weekly in England. More than a million spectators watched a live tennis event in the UK last year.
Roger said: "It has been a huge honour to serve the sport that I love so much and to play my part in leading British tennis. I have been very lucky to work with fantastic people both at the LTA and across the wider tennis community, and I would like to thank them all for their passion, commitment and hard work.
“As a result, the sport is entering a very exciting phase, and now is the right time for me to hand over the baton to a new leader who can build on what has been achieved in recent years, and take British tennis to new levels.”
During his time as CEO, Roger has overseen the introduction of the Blueprint for British tennis, a long term strategy to grow the sport.
This had led to the creation of new talent identification and performance programmes, and a ground-breaking Lead Partner commercial model which has increased commercial revenue from £1.75m in 2006 to £9m last year.
He has also led the LTA’s work to help more people play tennis, including the development of a mini tennis programme which is now played by more than 100,000 children, and has been adopted internationally.
David Gregson, Chairman of the LTA Board, said: “Roger has made a significant contribution to the development of British tennis, and Peter Bretherton (LTA President) and I would like to thank him for all his hard work in driving these changes. His passion and enthusiasm for the sport will be much missed. Roger will be staying on as CEO until the end of September, and we shall now start the process to appoint his successor”.