Norman Brookes
Full name | Norman Everard Brookes |
---|---|
Country (sports) | Australia |
Born |
St Kilda, Victoria, Australia | 14 November 1877
Died |
28 September 1968 90) South Yarra, Victoria, Australia | (aged
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
Retired | 1928 |
Plays | Left-handed (1-handed backhand)[1] |
Int. Tennis HoF | 1977 (member page) |
Singles | |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (1907, Karoly Mazak)[2] |
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, 1914, 1919) |
Sir Norman Everard Brookes (14 November 1877 – 28 September 1968) was an Australian tennis player. Brookes was a world No. 1 ranked player and later president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia. During his career he won three Grand Slam singles titles, Wimbledon in 1907 and 1914 and the Australasian Championships in 1911. Brookes was part of the Australasian Davis 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.
Biography
Brookes was born in Melbourne, to a father, William Brookes, who had become rich from gold mining in the Bendigo area. He received a private education at Melbourne Grammar School. On leaving school, he went to work as a clerk at the Australian Paper Mills Co. Ltd where his father was managing director, and was on the board himself within eight years.
Brookes married 20-year-old Mabel Balcombe Emmerton, the daughter of Harry Emmerton, a solicitor, on 19 April 1911 at St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne. They had three daughters.
During World War I he served as commissioner of the Australian branch of the British Red Cross in Egypt.
He died in South Yarra, Victoria in 1968.
Tennis career
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.[3]
Brookes was the first non-British player and the first left-hander to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon.[4] He won the men's singles twice, first in 1907 and again in 1914. He also won the doubles in each of those years with New Zealander Anthony Wilding, whom he beat in the 1914 singles final. He was a major figure in establishing the Australian Open (known as the Australasian Championship until 1927), which he won in 1911. Brookes is considered to have been a World No. 1 player in the 1900s.
Brookes played 39 Davis Cup matches for Australia/New Zealand and the Australian Davis Cup Team between 1905 and 1920.
In May 1914 he won the singles title at the Surrey Lawn Championships in Surbiton, defeating Gordon Lowe in the final in five sets.[5]
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.[6]
Australian rules football career
Brookes was also an Australian rules footballer in his youth, particularly for Melbourne Grammar School.[7]
Honours
Norman Brookes was knighted "in recognition of service to public service" in 1939.[8] His wife, Mabel, Lady Brookes (CBE in 1933) became Dame Mabel Brookes (DBE) in 1955 for her work in charities and social causes.
The trophy for men's singles at the Australian Open, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, is named in his honour.[9]
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1977.
In 1981 he was honoured on a postage stamp issued by Australia Post depicting a cartoon image by Tony Rafty.[10]
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runners-up)
Outcome | Ref. | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Runner-up | [11] | 1905 | Wimbledon | Grass | Laurence Doherty | 6–8, 2–6, 4–6 |
Winner | [11] | 1907 | Wimbledon | Grass | Arthur Gore | 6–4, 6–2, 6–2 |
Winner | [12] | 1911 | Australasian Championships | Grass | Horace Rice | 6–1, 6–2, 6–3 |
Winner | [11] | 1914 | Wimbledon | Grass | Anthony Wilding | 6–4, 6–4, 7–5 |
Runner-up | [11] | 1919 | Wimbledon | Grass | Gerald Patterson | 3–6, 5–7, 2–6 |
Doubles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)
Outcome | Ref. | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | [13] | 1907 | Wimbledon | Grass | Anthony Wilding | Karl Behr Beals Wright | 6–4, 6–4, 6–2 |
Runner-up | [14] | 1911 | Australasian Championships | Grass | John Addison | Rodney Heath Randolph Lycett | 2–6, 5–7, 0–6 |
Winner | [13] | 1914 | Wimbledon | Grass | Anthony Wilding | Herbert Roper Barrett Charles Dixon | 6–1, 6–1, 5–7, 8–6 |
Winner | [15] | 1919 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Gerald Patterson | Vincent Richards Bill Tilden | 8–6, 6–3, 4–6, 4–6, 6–2 |
Winner | [14] | 1924 | Australasian Championships | Grass | James Anderson | Pat O'Hara Wood Gerald Patterson | 6–2, 6–4, 6–3 |
References
- ↑ Norman Brookes at Australian Open Tennis. Quote: "Brookes was the first left-handed player ever to claim the coveted grass court title."
- ↑ Mazak, Karoly (2010). The Concise History of Tennis, p. 35.
- ↑ W. H. Frederick. "Brookes, Sir Norman Everard (1877–1968)". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
- ↑ "Norman Brookes - Tennis - Athlete & Administration". Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
- ↑ "Surrey County Championships – Brookes Wins Singles". The Age. 25 May 1914.
- ↑ "Sir Norman's Good-bye to Big Tennis". The Sydney Morning Herald. Jun 30, 1955.
- ↑ "Our First Great Champion at Wimbledon". The Age. 14 October 1959. p. 13.
- ↑ "It's an Honour". Australian Government. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
- ↑ "Australian Open – Trophy Tour". Tennis Australia.
- ↑ "Caricature of Sir Norman Brookes, tennis player". Australian Stamp.
- 1 2 3 4 "Wimbledon Rolls of Honour / Gentlemen's Singles". Wimbledon official tournament website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- ↑ "Australian Open Results Archive / Men's Singles". Australian Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- 1 2 "Wimbledon Rolls of Honour / Gentlemen's Doubles". Wimbledon official tournament website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- 1 2 "Australian Open Results Archive / Men's Doubles". Australian Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- ↑ "US Open Past Champions / Men's Doubles". US Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
Further reading
- Naughton, Richard (2011). The Wizard : The story of Norman Brookes, Australia's first Wimbledon champion. Docklands, Vic.: The Slattery Media Group. ISBN 978-1921778414.
- Brookes, Mabel (1974). Memoirs. Melbourne: Macmillan. ISBN 9780333139899. OCLC 1532297.
External links
- Norman Brookes at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
- Norman Brookes at the Davis Cup
- Norman Brookes at the International Tennis Federation
- Norman Brookes at the Association of Tennis Professionals