Joe GallopThe All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC) has elected Deborah Jevans CBE as vice chair, set to succeed current chair Ian Hewitt at the end of the 2023 Championships.
Former professional tennis player Jevans has held several high-level leadership positions in sports business. She is currently senior independent non-executive director of the English Football League (EFL) and a trustee of the Invictus Games Foundation and EFL Trust. She is set to be the first ever female chair of the AELTC.
Her previous roles have included: director of Women’s Tennis at the International Tennis Federation; director of Sport for the Olympic Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games; CEO of England Rugby 2015; and vice-chair of Sport England.
Jevans, who has reached the last 16 in singles and last eight in mixed doubles at Wimbledon, has been a full member of the All England Club since 1996 and first joined the Club Committee in 2004, serving through to 2014 and then again from 2016 to date.
She currently chairs the Food & Drink, Royal Box and Staff Committees and serves on the Professional Tennis, Courts, Commercial & Marketing, Estate and Master Plan Committees.
Hewitt said, “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. 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.”
During Hewitt’s tenure, beginning in December 2019, he led the appointment of Sally Bolton as chief executive in 2020. He has stewarded the organisation through the Covid pandemic including the cancellation of The Championships 2020, the restricted capacity event in 2021 and the return to full spectator capacity in 2022, as well as the challenges resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Play on the middle sunday of The Championships was introduced in 2022. Long-term renewals have been secured with broadcast partners BBC and ESPN and agreements concluded with new official commercial partners Vodafone and Barclays.
Around the Estate, the Indoor Tennis Centre has been completed and the planning application for the Club’s Wimbledon Park Project has been submitted and is expected for decision over the coming months.
Hewitt’s tenure has also seen the growth of the Wimbledon Foundation and, in 2022, the celebration of 100 years of Centre Court at the Club’s Church Road Grounds.