Deborah Jevans

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 20 May 1960) is a British former

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player and current sports executive. Jevans is a former junior Wimbledon champion and played in ten Grand Slam singles draws between 1979 and 1983, with her best result being the fourth round of Wimbledon, losing to fifth-seeded

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all f ...

. In 1978 she reached the quarter finals of the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon with her future husband and Wimbledon referee

Andrew Jarrett Andrew Jarrett (born 9 January 1958) is a former professional tennis player from the United Kingdom. Jarrett was educated at Millfield from 1969 to 1975. He enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career he won one ...

. In 1987, at the age of 27, Jevans took up a role of director of the Women's Game at the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there a ...

and in 1991 became general secretary. In 2003 she was appointed as director of sports for

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. After the Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

, she took over the post of chief executive for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

. In 2014 she topped the list of the 50 most influential women in British sport created by

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

. Jevans stepped down from her Rugby World Cup role in March 2015 citing personal reasons. She had reportedly fallen out with members of the RFU and received a £150,000 payoff when she left. She is a member of the board of the

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London, England, is a Gentlemen's club, private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon ...

(AELTC). Jevans is also a non-executive director of the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

having been appointed this role in 2014. When

Ian Lenagan Ian Lenagan (born 1946, Scholes, Wigan) is a business entrepreneur, theatre producer and shareholder of London Broncos, chairman and owner of Wigan Warriors, and former owner of Oxford United F.C. In 2016 he was appointed Chairman of the Footbal ...

resigned as chairman of the organisation, Jevans was appointed interim chair in September 2018 until a new chairperson was elected in 2019.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jevans, Debbie 1960 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English female tennis players Tennis people from Greater London