Adam Helfant, a former executive at Nike and lawyer at NHL, has been appointed as the new CEO and chairman of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the world governing body of men’s tennis.
The 44-year-old American takes over from Etienne de Villiers, who had been in the post since 2005, and oversaw increases in prize money and the introduction of the video replay. The appointment was announced just prior to the Australian Open, the first competition of the 2009 ATP World Tour.
The Times newspaper reports that Helfant was vice president of US sports marketing at Nike, having been promoted since joining the company’s legal department in the mid-1990s. He previously worked at the NHL and a New York law firm, and attended Harvard University.
