London  - Adam S Helfant, a former employee of the sports gear giant Nike, is the new boss of global men's tennis, the ATP confirmed Monday.

Helfant, 44, "will begin his role with the ATP immediately and will be based in London," the ATP said in a statement.

The appointment of Helfant, marks the end of the controversial three-year term of South African Etienne de Villiers, who led the ATP in opposition to key players like Swiss former world number one Roger Federer and his successor, Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

An Engineering graduate from the prestigious MIT and a Law graduate from Harvard, Helfant has experience in sports organizations as the lawyer of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He also honed his skills in the negotiation of contracts with universities, sportsmen and federations during his years at Nike.

Ivan Ljubicic, a member of the ATP Player Board, expressed his satisfaction over the appointment.

"I am delighted, on behalf of the players, to be able to welcome Adam to the ATP. It was our intention as a Board to recruit a world class Executive Chairman and in Adam we are delighted and excited to have achieved just that," the Croat said. (dpa)