British tennis began its search for a new chief executive yesterday after it was announced that Roger Draper is to step down from his role in September.

In his seven years in charge, Draper was widely criticised for not producing enough top players, for not expanding participation and for taking a huge salary in doing so.

The official release said Draper was leaving "after one of the most outstanding years in the history of British tennis, both on and off the court", pointing to Andy Murray's Olympic gold medal, the silver he won with Laura Robson and his US Open triumph.

The LTA said Draper, who reportedly earned £640,000 (including a bonus of just under £200,000) will stay until September but it is possible he could leave sooner.

"The sport is entering a very exciting phase and now is the right time for me to hand over the baton to a new leader who can build on what has been achieved in recent years and take British tennis to new levels," Draper said in a statement.

The decision comes just three months after the appointment of David Gregson as chairman of the LTA Board. Gregson has been making all the right noises about being transparent and working to spread participation. The LTA claim there was an 18% rise in the numbers of adults playing weekly in England in 2012 but many experts, including Murray, have said the key is getting children involved from a young age.

Murray was last night due to play his fourth-round match at the BNP Paribas Open against Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, potentially to set up a meeting with Juan Martin Del Potro as he closes in on the world No.2 spot.

The Scot is probably too sensible to be openly critical of Draper in public but as he ploughs a lone furrow once more in a Masters 1000 event here, he said that Britain needs to accept that what they have been doing did not work, and look elsewhere for inspiration.

Murray spent two years in Spain as a teenager and his eyes were opened to what they were doing to create a national identity, unlike in Britain, where coaches preferred to work with the individual styles of their players.

Either system could work – and many would say that systems do not create champions anyway – but Murray said his experience in Spain and the results they have achieved convinced him this is the way to go.

"You need to have a way of teaching tennis so that everyone does a similar sort of thing," he said. "When I went to Spain, the worst players were doing the same drills as the best players and they had the best coaches. Some coaches aren't going to be as good but when you teach that way, with the basket drills and the way they do it, you're kind of programmed into [hitting a particular shot] when the ball's here or there.

"It takes the thought out of the game a little bit and it works. They've had the best results. Right now, they don't have that many guys coming through but they still have about 10 guys that can make up a very good Davis Cup team.

"It's just my opinion and that might be the wrong way to do it. Maybe when I finish playing, I might take more of an interest and get more involved. I want the kids that are playing just now to do well. I like them, some of them are really, really nice kids and they work hard."