Hrdlicka becomes the first woman to lead the organisation less than two years after she was elected to the Board.

It followed a meeting in Melbourne at which she was chosen to replace the retiring Chris Freeman.

Hrdlicka has been chief executive of the Melbourne-based Jetstar Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Qantas Group, since 2012.

She is set to shift to a new role as chief executive of Qantas Loyalty and Digital Ventures next month.

“We have strong leadership across the sport and we need everyone working together to deliver great outcomes around Australia," said Hrdlicka, whose two sons both play tennis, after her appointment to the sporting role.

“Tennis Australia has undergone an unprecedented period of growth this past decade. 

"Craig Tiley [the Tennis Australia chief executive] and his team have done a remarkable job to develop and promote Australian tennis across the world."

Hrdlicka added: “There is a great foundation upon which to build the future success of the sport. 

"That involves the growth of the Australian Open, Australian Open Series, continually enabling our national teams to achieve their best, helping identify and nurture the next generation of talent, working closely with the nation’s coaches, growing the participation base throughout the nation and ensuring tennis is the sport of choice for our kids.

“We can only do that together as a unified tennis community, communicating regularly and following a well-constructed strategy."

Steve Healy stood down as Tennis Australia President to pursue business interests in April.

Vice-president Chris Freeman has since assumed the leading role on a caretaker basis.

The governing body will now be hoping for a period of stability after former players Janet Young and Kerryn Pratt, as well as a further member in Peter Armstrong, resigned from the Board in January 2016.