René Lacoste, the Champion
It was by taking away the Davis Cup from the Americans for the first time in 1927 with his team, the Musketeers, that René Lacoste became a tennis legend.
He also triumphed three times in the French Championships (1925, 1927 and at the Roland Garros stadium in 1929), twice in Great Britain at Wimbledon (in 1925 and 1928) and twice (in 1926 and 1927) at the US Open in Forest Hills.
With the “Musketeers” Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon and Henri Cochet, he dominated world tennis until the early 1930s. From 1922 onwards, the four men won title after title and already had their nicknames. Jean Borotra was the “Bounding Basque”, Henri Cochet was the “magician”, Jacques Brugnon was nicknamed “Toto” and as for René Lacoste, who was considered to be a formidable backcourt player, he did not as yet have a nickname. For the moment, he impressed the public and his adversaries with his concentration and his impressive speed…It was after the historic victory of the Davis Cup in 1927 that Lacoste, Borotra, Brugnon and Cochet were nicknamed the “Musketeers." The Davis Cup would remain in the hands of French players for six consecutive years
René Lacoste, the entrepreneur
The veritable history of the “Crocodile” began in 1927. René Lacoste liked to tell of how his nickname became a world famous emblem:
“The American press nicknamed me “the Crocodile” after a bet I made with the Captain of the French Davis Cup team. He had promised me a crocodile-skin suitcase if I won a match that was important for our team. The American public stuck to this nickname, which highlighted my tenacity on the tennis courts, never giving up my prey! So my friend Robert George drew me a crocodile which was embroidered on the blazer that I wore on the courts.”
In 1927, René Lacoste had a set of loose-knit, cotton shirts made for his own personal use. These comfortable shirts above all perfectly absorbed perspiration, in order, he said, to "better endure the heat on the American courts." These first shirts would quickly cause a sensation on the courts. The French Tennis Federation even found them to be a little indecent because of their figure-hugging shape!
The first Lacoste shirts were white (the colour used on tennis courts at that time), with short sleeves and ribbed collar and cuffs, in a fabric that would become emblematic of the brand; the “petit piqué” jersey knit. By joining forces in 1933 with the great hosiery manufacturer André Gillier, René Lacoste started the industrial production of the crocodile-logo polo shirt and gave birth to La Chemise Lacoste.
René Lacoste, the inventor…
Tennis champion, René Lacoste, was also an inspired inventor. In the 1920s, he had the idea of wrapping sticking plaster around the handles of his tennis racquets (which were made of wood at the time) for a better grip. The idea caught on and very quickly became widespread on the courts.
At the end of the 1920s, between two Davis Cup matches, René Lacoste found the time to create for his own use a training machine capable of throwing balls so that he could improve his smash technique.
In 1930, he planned to mass-produce this machine.
In 1963, the former champion turned industrialist designed and produced the first steel tennis racquet, the T2000.
Largely distributed in the US, this racquet won 46 Grand-Slams from 1966 to 1978 in the hands of champions like Jimmy Connors and Billie Jean King.
It paved the way for numerous other Lacoste inventions that would participate in the development of even higher-performance racquets.
René Lacoste, a man of heart
Throughout his existence, René Lacoste never ceased to share his passion for sport, committed to giving several young people in his entourage their chance and often following them personally. By creating the René Lacoste Foundation today, the family business that is Lacoste SA wishes to pursue the works of its founder, in the respect of his values and sporting ideals.