Sir Norman Everard Brookes (14 November 187728 September 1968) was an Australian

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. During his career he won three Grand Slam singles titles;

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in 1907 and 1914 (the first non-British individual to do so) and the

Australasian Championships The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...

in 1911. Brookes was part of the Australasian

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

team that won the title on five 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 the

Lawn Tennis Association of Australia Tennis Australia Limited is the governing body for Tennis in Australia. It is owned by Australian states and territories. The association organises national and international Tennis tournaments including the Australian Open, the Australian Open ...

Early life

Brookes was born in the St Kilda suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

as the youngest son to Catherine Margaret (née Robinson) and William Brookes. His father, an English immigrant who emigrated to Australia in 1852 had become rich from gold mining in the

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

area. His older brothers,

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

and

Harold Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts a ...

, were prominent businessmen. Brookes received a private education at

Melbourne Grammar School (Pray and Work) , established = 1849 (on present site since 1858 - the celebrated date of foundation) , type = Independent, co-educational primary, single-sex boys secondary, day and boarding , denominatio ...

where he matriculated in 1895. As a schoolboy he excelled in cricket, Australian football and tennis. On leaving school, he went to work as a clerk at

Australian Paper Mills Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

, where his father was managing director, and was on the board himself within eight years. 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 by

Wilberforce Eaves Wilberforce Vaughan Eaves MBE (10 December 1867 – 10 February 1920) was an Australian-born tennis player from the United Kingdom. At the 1908 London Olympics he won a bronze medal in the Men's Singles tournament. Biography Eaves was born in ...

. In 1896 he became a regular player at the Royal South Yarra Tennis Club. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served as commissioner of the

Australian Red Cross The Australian Red Cross, formally the Australian Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. Tracing its history back to 1923 and being incorporated by royal charter in 1941, the Australian Red Cros ...

in Egypt.

Tennis career

In 1907 Brookes became the first non-British player and the first left-hander to win the men's singles title at

after a straight sets victory in the final against 39-year old Arthur Gore. 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. 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 holder

Anthony Wilding Anthony Frederick Wilding (31 October 1883 – 9 May 1915), also known as Tony Wilding, was a New Zealand world No. 1 tennis player and soldier who was killed in action during World War I. Considered the world's first tennis superstar, Wildin ...

with whom he also won the Wimbledon doubles 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 against

Horace Rice Horace Rice (5 September 1872 – 18 January 1950) was an Australian tennis player. The left-handed Rice, who played in knickerbockers and long black socks, won the Men's Singles title at the 1907 Australasian Championships, beating Harry ...

. When he did play tennis he focused on the locally held

Victorian Championships The Victorian Championships its original name until 1968 it was then known as the Victorian Open Grass Court Championships or Victorian Open was a tennis event held from 1879 through 1971 it was originally played at the Melbourne Cricket Groun ...

and the Davis Cup. Brookes played 39

matches for Australia/New Zealand and the Australian 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 the Surrey Lawn Championships in Surbiton, defeating

Gordon Lowe Sir Francis Gordon Lowe, 2nd Baronet (21 June 1884 – 17 May 1972) was a British male tennis player. Lowe is best remembered for winning the Australasian Championships in 1915 (where he beat champion Horace Rice in the final). and for winni ...

in the final in five sets. Brookes was instrumental in the development of Kooyong 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.

Australian rules football career

Brookes was also an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er in his youth, particularly for Melbourne Grammar School. Until 2016 it was believed that he had played two VFL games for St Kilda in 1898; it was actually his brother

who had done so.

Personal life

Brookes married 20-year-old Mabel Balcombe Emmerton, the daughter of Harry Emmerton, a solicitor, on 19 April 1911 at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

in Melbourne. They had three daughters. He died in

South Yarra, Victoria South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Sto ...

, in 1968.

Honours

Norman Brookes was created a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

"for public services in the Commonwealth of Australia" in the

1939 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1939 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the of ...

. His wife, Mabel, Lady Brookes was made a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE) in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

for "charitable and social welfare services." The trophy for men's singles at the Australian Open, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, is named in his honour. He was inducted into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

in 1977. In 1981 he was honoured on a postage stamp issued by

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...

depicting a cartoon image by

Tony Rafty Tony Rafty (born Anthony Raftopoulos; 12 October 1915 – 9 October 2015) was a Greek-Australian artist. He specialised in drawing caricatures. Biography Rafty was born in Paddington, New South Wales into a family of Greek origin. As a boy he ...

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runners-up)

Doubles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

Performance timeline

Events with a challenge round: (W_C) won; (CR) lost the challenge round; (F_A) all comers' finalist ^1,2,3 Brookes did not play. His opponent got a walkover.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brookes, Norman 1877 births 1968 deaths Australasian Championships (tennis) champions Australian Knights Bachelor Australian male tennis players People in sports awarded knighthoods Tennis players from Melbourne International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees United States National champions (tennis) Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Red Cross personnel World number 1 ranked male tennis players Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees People from St Kilda, Victoria Australian people of English descent