Andy Murray's Wimbledon joy means no better time for Mike Downey to run British tennis He does, however, appreciate what a unique chance he has been presented with. "The opportunity of having Andy Murray as Wimbledon champion, and a two-time slam champion, is immense for tennis in Britain," said Downey, who will start his new role at the LTA's Roehampton offices on Jan 6. Kids are going to pick up rackets and want to be Andy, and I believe there will be a bevy of talent that follows in his footsteps. It is easy to see why the LTA would be impressed with Canada's recent record. This used to be a minor tennis nation - hence Greg Rusedski's repatriation to Britain in 1995 - yet the emergence of world No 11 Milos Raonic helped their Davis Cup team to reach the semi-final this year. More importantly, Downey has led a successful participation drive, increasing the number of regular players on public courts by around 30 per cent over the past six years. This fits with the new emphasis that Gregson has brought in at Roehampton, which is less about honing our elite players than broadening the base of the sport. In theory, if you produce more talent, the heightened sense of competition should do the honing for you. Why, then, has the LTA gone overseas to find its new leader? There were at least two strong domestic candidates: Chris Kermode, tournament director of both the ATP World Tour Finals and the Aegon Championships at Queen's Club, and Scott Lloyd, son of the former Davis Cup player David Lloyd, who runs the fitness chain formed by his father. It is peculiar that neither man seems to have been seriously considered for the job, but then perhaps they were both seen as too radical. Still, there will be concerns that Downey might emulate Patrice Hagelauer, the Frenchman who was the LTA performance director between 1999 and 2003, by never fully grasping the unique ecology of British tennis, with its class issues and Wimbledon obsession. While Downey came across as thoughtful and articulate on his first appearance at the National Tennis Centre, Murray himself may be disappointed that the LTA have had to look so far afield. "I think it's fine to go elsewhere for certain expertise," Murray said in March, "but the people who genuinely care about the game in the UK are going to be British." He also suggested Kermode as his favoured candidate during his triumphant run at Queen's in May. Downey said on Tuesday that he saw strong parallels between Canada - where he has helped to encourage 1.2 million people to play tennis at least twice a month during the summer - and the United Kingdom. The difference, however, is that this sport has far more importance in Britain than it does in Canada. That's something that I realise will be a challenge, because the expectations will be higher. Downey used to help run the brewer Molson Canada, best known for producing Coors. He then moved to the sales and marketing department of the Toronto Raptors basketball team, before being offered his current role at Tennis Canada, which he started in 2004 without having any great experience or knowledge of the sport. His impressive performance over the past nine years also led to him being longlisted for the other big vacancy in tennis at the moment, the chief executive of the Association of Tennis Professionals. The LTA clearly feel they have achieved a significant coup with his appointment.