The Lebanese Tennis Federation held elections for its board this month with Oliver Fayssal winning a second term as president and four women elected to the board by Lebanese tennis clubs.

With four female board members (out of nine in total), the Lebanese Tennis Federation has the most gender-balanced board of any sports federation in the country - a positive step in increasing women's representation at the highest levels of both tennis and sport as a whole.

The new board members are:

Oliver Fayssal (Chairman)

Hassan Daouk (Vice President)

Serge Zwein (Vice President)

Raymond Kattoura (Secretary General)

Desiree Khalifeh (Treasurer)

Mirna AbuMrad Khoury (Accountant)

Nabil Qobaiter (Advisory Member)

Lynn Bashour (Advisory Member)

Nahia Abu Khalil (Advisory Member)

The ITF's Advantage All gender equality programme seeks to promote equality throughout the sport, both on- and off-court. National associations are able to access a number of Advantage All resources to help create and deliver their own gender equality strategies.

One of the resources is entitled 'Balance the Board' and explains the importance of having women in leadership positions. It also provides a step-by-step guide that is intended to help national associations recognise current imbalances and actively encourage female candidates to stand for leadership roles.

This year, the ITF produced a series of videos profiling Advantage All Ambassadors, allowing six prominent women within the sport - players, coaches and administrators - to tell their stories.

Valerie Maalouf, a Lebanese Tennis Federation coach based in Beirut, was one of those we spoke to. A talented junior player who turned her attention to coaching in her teenage years, Maalouf is one of 10 female Lebanese tennis coaches who were included in the ITF’s Global Tennis Report 2019.

The report found that there were 103 coaches and 2,000 regular tennis players in Lebanon. There are 40 tennis clubs and 180 courts nationwide, but Lebanon's playing population is predominantly male, with women and girls accounting for just under 22 percent of registered players.

"We’ve lived in a man’s world, basically, for so many years and it’s not going to change overnight," Maalouf said when asked about her experiences of misogyny and sexism. "It means lots of work, lots of years to change this way of thinking in the workplace."

But Maalouf was also quick to praise the steps that the Lebanese Tennis Federation had taken to promote gender equality.

"I’ve always had the same opportunities as my male co-workers," she continued. "I really would like to thank my federation for this – I’ve always felt like a part of the family and I’ve always felt their support.

"Gender equality in the work field is to have the same openings and the same opportunities."