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The Wizard: Sir Norman Brookes He was simply a wizard, tacticly astute, a hero in his native Australia. Austere in bearing, a man of strength and character that demanded and won respect for his game, winning major honours galore, despite his medium build weighing 150lbs. An exponent of the game he plied his trade to great effect between 1905 and 1920, becoming one of the first advocates of the serve-volley game, which many observers cite as not coming into being until after World War II. Norman Everand Brookes was born on November 14th, 1877, in Melbourne, Australia and shortly afterwards racket in hand, began to hone his skills, which would make him ever present and popular with Australasian crowds as a Davis Cup regular bewteen 1905 and 1920.
The Doherty Brothers were his nemesis, Reggie and Laurie left the international tennis scene and from 1906 the Wizard ruled the roost. Having lost the 1905 Wimbledon singles final, to Laurie Doherty, Brookes trained harder than ever and became the first overseas player to win Wimbledon in 1907. Standing at five feet 11 inches, Brookes was of sallow complexion with his pale blue eyes, with his cloth cap, an innovation that never caught on. Later in 1907 the left-hander´s decisive 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Roper Barrett settled Australasia´s 3-2 victory at Wimbledon to break Britain´s four-year hold on the Davis Cup and took the przie Down Under for the first time. It stayed their until a British reprisal in 1912. Brookes going 5-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles as his side beat the U.S. three times. Even though at 36 years-old, he lost the memorable first-day match to 24-year-old Maurice McLoughlin, 17-15, 6-3, 6-3, in 1914, the Aussies spirited the Cup away 3-2, as he clinched, 6-1, 6-2, 8-10, 6-3, over Dick Williams. Five years later, at age 41, he won the doubles with Gerald Patterson as the Aussies beat Britain, 4-1, the oldest to play with a Cup winner. A year after that, his Cup swan song, he gave a furious Bill Tilden a furious battle, 10-8, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, as the Americans retrieved the sterling bowl.
Serve-and-volley a domain few tries in the early days of Lawn Tennis, but Brookes performed it to great effect playing that game in 1914, but there was more to his game. He had ground strokes adequate to hold his own from the back of the court. Because his serve was so big an asset - flat, slice, twist, even reverse twist - and he volleyed so much, his methods were characterized as unorthodox when he was in his prime. He often used the same side of the racket for forehand and backhand. Returning to Wimbledon in 1914, his first appearance since winning seven years before, Brookes again demonstrated his all-around strength in a severe all-comers final test (6-2, 6-1, 5-7, 4-6, 8-6, over German Otton Froitzheim) preparatory to wresting the title from his close friend and teammate Anthony Wilding, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5, with a display of faultless ground strokes. But war engulfed Europe and five years passed, for a player entering the end of his playing days, the return to Wimbledon couldn´t have come at a better time. 1919 heralded his return for his next go at Wimbledon and as the defending champ he couldn't hold off Patterson in the challenge round, 6-3, 75, 6-2. However, that summer the two of them went to America to win the U.S. Doubles over Tilden and Vinnie Richards, 8-6, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, the first of many Aussies to cart off American titles. He gave incoming champ Tilden - who called him "the greatest tennis brain" - a fright in the singles quarter-finals 1-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Brookes' durability was demonstrated again in 1924 at Wimbledon when, at 46, he ousted World No.5 Frank Hunter, finalist in 1923 and 17 years his junior. Brookes, who had won his first major, Wimbledon, 1907, took his last in 1924, the Aussie doubles with James Anderson. He was in his 47th year, the elder of all major champions.
The honors didn't stop for the man who seems to command them. In 1926, he was named President of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia, a post he held until 1955. He was decorated with the French Legion of Honor for his services in World War I as a captain in the British Army and in 1939, he was knighted. He died September 28, 1968, in Melbourne, leaving an indelible mark on the game and the generations of tennis players that were to follow. Grand Slam Record Australian Open Singles 1911; Doubles 1924 Wimbledon Singles 1906, 1914; Singles finalist 1905, 1919; Doubles 1907, 1914 U.S. Championships Doubles 1919 Tournament Record (inc. Davis Cup, Olympics) Australasian Davis Cup Team member 1905, 1907-1909, 1911-1912, 1914, 1919-1920; winning side 1907-1909, 1911, 1914, 1919; losing side 1912, 1920; Captain 1919-1922; winning captain 1919-1920 Contributions to the Game Australian Lawn Tennis President 1926-1955
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