Brookes was born in the St Kilda suburb of Melbourne as the youngest son to Catherine Margaret and William Brookes. His father, an English immigrant who emigrated to Australia in 1852 had become rich from gold mining in the Bendigo area. His older brothers, Herbert and Harold, were prominent businessmen. Brookes received a private education at Melbourne Grammar School 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, 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. In 1896 he became a regular player at the Royal South Yarra Tennis Club. During World War I he served as commissioner of the Australian Red Cross 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 Wimbledon 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 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 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. When he did play tennis he focused on the locally held Victorian Championships and the Davis Cup. Brookes played 39 Davis Cup 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 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.
Brookes was also an Australian rules footballer 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 Harold who had done so.
Norman Brookes was created a Knight Bachelor "in recognition of service to public service" in 1939. His wife, Mabel, Lady Brookes became Dame Mabel Brookes 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. 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.
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runners-up)
Doubles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)
Performance timeline
Events with a challenge round: won; lost the challenge round; all comers' finalist 1,2,3 Brookes did not play. His opponent got a walkover.
