Born in
Northampton, Mayes was educated at
Northampton Grammar School. He served in the
Boer War in 1898, joining the
Natal Horse as a trooper. He was promoted to a captain and was awarded the King's and Queen's medals. In 1908, he resigned his commission after marrying Frances Hazard of
Long Island, and moved to
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1909. There he founded a tanning company with business associates. Mayes was on the 1913 Canadian
Davis Cup team along with
J. F. Foulkes,
Robert Powell and
Bernie Schwengers. It was Canada's first entry into the Davis Cup and they reached the final of the Cup only to be defeated by the United States in the summer of 1913 at Wimbledon where the Cup was being held. His career singles highlights include winning the
Manitoba Championships in 1910 and again in 1912. In 1926 he won the
North London Championships at the Gipsy Lawn Tennis Club,
Stamford Hill, London, England against
Gordon Lowe. He won the
London Championships in 1922, 1926 and 1927, defeating
Donald Greig in four sets,
Arthur Lowe in straight sets and
D.M. Evans in straight sets respectively. He was also a competitor at the
Wimbledon Championships. Mayes also won the
Côte d'Azur Championships at
Cannes,
France two times (1923. 1927), and the
Monaco Championships (1927). Winning his last championship at the age of 47, when most modern players have long since been retired, he died just a year after his last win in London in 1928 of blood poisoning, aged 48. According to the
United States Lawn Tennis Association, Mayes was reported to have still been in peak physical shape before his death, "approaching a half century". ==References==