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| Full name | Norman Everard Brookes |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  Australia |
| Born | (1877-11-14)14 November 1877 |
| Died | 28 September 1968(1968-09-28) (aged 90) South Yarra, Victoria, Australia |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Retired | 1928 |
| Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand)[1] |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1977(member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 225–52 (81.2%)[2] |
| Career titles | 19[2] |
| Highest ranking | No.1 (1907,ITHF)[3] |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1911) |
| French Open | 2R (1928) |
| Wimbledon | W (1907,1914) |
| US Open | QF (1919) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1924) |
| Wimbledon | W (1907,1914) |
| US Open | W (1919) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | W (1907,1908,1909,1911,1914,1919) |
Sir Norman Everard Brookes (14 November 1877 – 28 September 1968) was an Australiantennis player. During his career he won three Grand Slam singles titles;Wimbledon in 1907 and 1914 (the first non-British born individual to do so) and theAustralasian Championships in 1911. Brookes was part of the AustralasianDavis Cup team that won the title on six occasions. The Australian Open men's singles trophy, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, is named in his honour. After his active playing career Brookes became president of theLawn Tennis Association of Australia.
Brookes was born in theMelbourne suburb ofSt Kilda as the youngest son to Catherine Margaret (née Robinson) and William Brookes.[4] His father, an English immigrant who emigrated to Australia in 1852 had become rich from gold mining in theBendigo area.[4] His older brothers,Herbert andHarold, were prominent businessmen. Brookes received a private education atMelbourne Grammar School where he matriculated in 1895.[5] As a schoolboy he excelled in cricket, Australian football and tennis.[6] On leaving school, he went to work as a clerk atAustralian Paper Mills, where his father was managing director, and was on the board himself within eight years.[5]
As a youth Brookes played regularly on the court of the family mansion in Queens Road, Melbourne and nearby, at the Lorne St courts, he studied the strokes and tactics of leading players and was coached byWilberforce Eaves.[7][8] In 1896 he became a regular player at the Royal South Yarra Tennis Club.[9]
DuringWorld War I he served as commissioner of theAustralian Red Cross in Egypt.
In 1907 Brookes became the first non-British player and the first left-hander to win themen's singles title atWimbledon after a straight sets victory in the final against 39-year oldArthur Gore.[10] Brookes intended to defend his Wimbledon title as late as February 1908 but in April cancelled his plans to travel to England due to the ill health of his father (who died in 1910) which meant that Brookes had to spend more time at his father's company Australian Paper Mills.[11] He gave priority to his business endeavors during this time and would not return to Wimbledon until 1914 when he again won the singles title, this time against the title holderAnthony Wilding with whom he also won the Wimbledondoubles title in 1907 and 1914. During these years he also skipped most Australasian Championships with the exception of the 1911 edition which was held in his hometown Melbourne and which he won in the final againstHorace Rice. When he did play tennis he focused on the locally heldVictorian Championships and the Davis Cup.
Brookes played 39Davis Cup matches for Australia/New Zealand and theAustralian Davis Cup team between 1905 and 1920 and was a member of the winning team in 1907, 1908, 1909, 1914, 1919.
In May 1914 he won the singles title at theSurrey Lawn Championships in Surbiton, defeatingGordon Lowe in the final in five sets.[12]
Brookes was instrumental in the development ofKooyong as a tennis centre. In 1926 he became the first president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia, a post he held for the next 29 years until his retirement in June 1955.[13]
Brookes was also anAustralian rules footballer in his youth, particularly for Melbourne Grammar School.[14] Until 2016 it was believed that he had played twoVFL games forSt Kilda in 1898; it was actually his brotherHarold who had done so.[15]
Brookes married 20-year-oldMabel Balcombe Emmerton, the daughter of Harry Emmerton, a solicitor, on 19 April 1911 atSt Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne. They had three daughters.
He died inSouth Yarra, Victoria, in 1968.
Norman Brookes was created aKnight Bachelor "for public services in the Commonwealth of Australia" in the1939 Birthday Honours.[16][17] His wife, Mabel, Lady Brookes was made a Dame Commander of theOrder of the British Empire (DBE) in1955 for "charitable and social welfare services."[18]
The trophy for men's singles at the Australian Open, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, is named in his honour.[19]
He was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 1977.
In 1981 he was honoured on a postage stamp issued byAustralia Post depicting a cartoon image byTony Rafty.[20]
| Result | Ref. | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | [21] | 1905 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Laurence Doherty | 6–8, 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | [21] | 1907 | Wimbledon | Grass | Arthur Gore | 6–4, 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | [22] | 1911 | Australasian Championships | Grass | Horace Rice | 6–1, 6–2, 6–3 |
| Win | [21] | 1914 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Anthony Wilding | 6–4, 6–4, 7–5 |
| Loss | [21] | 1919 | Wimbledon | Grass | Gerald Patterson | 3–6, 5–7, 2–6 |
| Result | Ref. | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | [23] | 1907 | Wimbledon | Grass | Anthony Wilding |  Karl BehrBeals Wright | 6–4, 6–4, 6–2 |
| Loss | [24] | 1911 | Australasian Championships | Grass | John Addison | Rodney HeathRandolph Lycett | 2–6, 5–7, 0–6 |
| Win | [23] | 1914 | Wimbledon | Grass | Anthony Wilding | Herbert Roper BarrettCharles Dixon | 6–1, 6–1, 5–7, 8–6 |
| Win | [25] | 1919 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Gerald Patterson | Vincent RichardsBill Tilden | 8–6, 6–3, 4–6, 4–6, 6–2 |
| Win | [24] | 1924 | Australasian Championships | Grass | James Anderson | Pat O'Hara WoodGerald Patterson | 6–2, 6–4, 6–3 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Events with a challenge round: (WC) won; (CR) lost the challenge round; (FA) all comers' finalist
| 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | SR | W–L | Win % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | 3 / 8 | 32–5 | 86.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| French | Only for French club members | Not held | Only for French club members | A | A | A | 2R1 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | CR | A | W | A | A | A | A | A | A | WC | Not held | CR | A | A | A | A | 4R | A | A | A | A | 2 / 5 | 24–3 | 88.9 | |||
| U.S. | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R2 | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 4–2 | 66.7 |
| Australasian | A | A | A | A | A | A | W | A | A | A | A | Not held | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1 / 1 | 4–0 | 100 | ||
| Win–loss | 7–1 | 7–0 | 4–0 | 7–0 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| National representation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | Not held | A | Not held | A | Not held | A | Not held | 2R3 | Not held | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||||||||||||
1,2,3Brookes did not play. His opponent got a walkover.
