Deborah Jevans is set to become the first female chair of the All England Lawn Tennis Club later this year ©AELTC

Deborah Jevans is set to become the first female chair of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) later this year, the organisation has announced.

Jevans has been elected as vice-chair of the AELTC, and is due to succeed outgoing chairman Ian Hewitt at the conclusion of this year’s Wimbledon Championships.

Jevans, a former director of sport for the Organising Committee of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and director of women’s tennis at the International Tennis Federation, competed in singles at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open during her playing career.

She also featured in team competitions the Maureen Connolly Cup and the Wightman Cup for Britain, and won the junior Wimbledon title.

Jevans has been a member of the AELTC from 1996, and has served on the club committee from 2004 to 2014 and then again from 2016 to the present day.

She currently chairs the Food & Drink, Royal Box and Staff Committees and serves on the Professional Tennis, Courts, Commercial and Marketing, Estate and Master Plan Committees.

Deborah Jevans, pictured left back row, at Wimbledon last year, was a former director of sport for the Organising Committee of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics ©Getty Images
Deborah Jevans, pictured left back row, at Wimbledon last year, was a former director of sport for the Organising Committee of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics ©Getty Images

"Debbie has a valuable combination of skills and experience gained over a long career in sport, both as a former professional tennis player and through a number of leadership roles within high-profile sports organisations as well as her many years of service on the Club Committee," said Hewitt.

"This equips her well for the role and I look forward, as planned, to handing over as chair after The Championships 2023 and wish Debbie all success as we continue with our ambitions."

Hewitt has chaired the organisation since December 2019, and during his tenure has overseen the cancellation of the tournament in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He has also overseen the appointment of Sally Bolton as chief executive in 2020 and the introduction of play on the Middle Sunday of the Championships in 2022.

Hewitt was also chair when the AELTC opted to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing at Wimbledon due to the two nations invasion of Ukraine.

The decision led to the tournament being fined and stripped of ranking points, and drew criticism from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who said last month that "Governments should not decide on political grounds who is participating at which sporting events."