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Norman Brookes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Norman Everard Brookes (born November 14, 1877 in Melbourne, Victoria – died September 28, 1968 in Melbourne, Victoria) was an Australian tennis champion and president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia.
Brookes' father (William Brookes) had become rich from gold mining in the Bendigo area, and Norman Brookes received a private education. On leaving school he went to work as a clerk at the paper mill 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 near by at the Lorne St courts he studied the strokes and tactics of leading players.
Brookes won the Wimbledon Championship men's singles twice, first in 1907 when he was the first non-British winner, and again in 1914. He also won the doubles in 1907 with New Zealander Anthony Wilding. He was personally a major figure in establishing the Australian Open (known as the Australasian Championship until 1927) which he won in 1911.
Brookes played 39 Davis Cup matches for Australia/New Zealand and the Australian Davis Cup Team between 1905 and 1920. During World War I he served as commissioner of the Australian branch of the British Red Cross in Egypt.
He married 20-year-old Mabel Balcombe on 19th April, 1911 at St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne. She was the daughter of Harry Emmerton, a solicitor. They had three daughters.
He 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 28 years. He was knighted in recognition of his distinguished services to tennis in 1939. He died in South Yarra in 1968.
The trophy for men's singles at the Australian Open is named in his honour. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1977.
Contents |
- Singles champion: 1911
- Doubles champion: 1924
- Singles champion: 1907, 1914
- Singles finalist: 1905, 1919
- Doubles champion: 1907, 1914
- Doubles champion: 1919
W. H. Frederick, 'Brookes, Sir Norman Everard (1877 - 1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 427-428.