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Jean Rene Lacoste and the Four Musketeers

Rene Lacoste
Roar Guru
22nd September, 2017
2

The history of the Lacoste clothing line dates back to the 1920s, when the American press nicknamed Jean Rene Lacoste ‘The Crocodile’ after he said he had been promised a crocodile-skin suitcase if he won an important match.

Later, his friend Robert George designed a crocodile and sewed it onto his blazer, and Lacoste’s trademark was born.

Lacoste was one of four French champions, collectively known as the ‘Four Musketeers’, who won 20 Grand Slam singles titles and 23 Grand Slam doubles titles between them.

They also featured in six Davis Cup wins in a row from 1927-32, which also happened to stop the USA’s six-year title run in 1927.

Jean Rene Lacoste
Lacoste was the world No.1 player in 1926 and 1927, winning seven singles Grand Slams – three at the French Open, as well as two each at Wimbledon and the US Open – and three doubles titles as well.

Apart from the tennis tee-shirt, Lacoste had two major contributions: he invented the first hand-cranked ball machine for tennis practice, and in the 1960s he invented the steel tennis racquet, which led to wooden racquet being eliminated. 

Lacoste turned himself into a world champion through determination, training and fitness. He preferred playing from the baseline and everything served, volleyed or hit to him was returned with such regularity that he was called ‘the human ball-machine’.

Henri Cochet
The son of a tennis club’s groundkeeper, the president of the club recognised his talent and volunteered to coach him for free, starting a memorable journey, which culminated in Henri being the world No.1 from 1928 to 1931.

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Cochet, like Lacoste, won seven Grand Slam singles – four French Opens, twice at Wimbledon and the US Open once. He also had five doubles wins at the Slams and he featured in all six of the Davis Cup triumphs.

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Jean Borotra
‘The Bounding Basque’ reached a high of No.2 and won four Grand Slam singles titles – Wimbledon twice, and the French and US Opens once each.

Another permanent fixture in the victorious Davis Cup team from 1927 to ’32, he also won nine Grand Slam doubles titles.

Unlike his peers, Borotra believed in the volley – he reached the net fast and trusted himself to win points with angled shots. 

Borotra used to whip up the passion of fans by exhorting them, football match style, to clap for him. He often hit tennis balls wildly and jumped into the crowd to kiss the hands of lady spectators. He would also fling his trademark black beret at any spectator he found attractive.

Cochet had a languid and unhurried manner, but this relaxed play and uninterested appearance masked his fierce competitiveness.

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Later in life, he was arrested by the Gestapo and put in a concentration camp, where he was subjected to pentathol (truth serum) and kept in solitary confinement for six months. He escaped the castle which was his prison, passed through German lines by posing as a dim-witted peasant, swam across a river and returned with American reinforcements to win the castle for the Allies. 

Jacques ‘Toto’ Brugnon
Toto was a doubles specialist, winning ten Grand Slam titles and losing seven.

As a singles player, his high was world No.9, and he only reached one Slam semi-final – at Wimbledon. 

The Four Musketeers were inducted together into the Hall of Fame in 1976.

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