René Lacoste, in full Jean-René Lacoste, (born July 2, 1904, Paris, France—died Oct. 12, 1996, Saint-Jean-de-Luz), French tennis participant who was a number one competitor within the late Twenties. As one of many highly effective Four Musketeers (the others have been Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet, and Jacques Brugnon), he helped France win its first Davis Cup in 1927, beginning its six-year domination of the cup. Later on he was higher recognized for his profitable sportswear firm.
Lacoste, who was nicknamed “the crocodile,” received the Wimbledon singles in 1925 and 1928, the French singles in 1925, 1927, and 1929, and have become the primary foreigner to win the U.S. championship twice (1926–27). With Borotra, he received the British doubles in 1925 and the French doubles in 1924, 1925, and 1929.
A methodical participant, Lacoste would examine each side of tennis earlier than a match, and he would anticipate an opponent to weaken. His best-known sport was maybe the 1927 U.S. championship, wherein he drove Bill Tilden to exhaustion within the two-hour remaining. After successful the 1929 French championship, Lacoste retired. Decades later, sportshirts and different objects of attire along with his “crocodile” emblem (though one way or the other modified to an alligator) turned in style all through the world. He and his fellow “musketeers” have been elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976.