René Lacoste
Encyclopedia
Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis
player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" by fans because of his tenacity on the court; he is also known worldwide as the namesake of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929.
Lacoste was one of The Four Musketeers
, French tennis stars who dominated the game in the 1920s and early 1930s. He won seven Grand Slam
singles titles in the French, American, and British championships but never made the long trip to Australia to play in their championships. He was the world number one player for both 1926 and 1927.
In 1933, Lacoste founded La Société Chemise Lacoste with André Gillier. The company produced the tennis shirt which Lacoste often wore when he was playing, which had an alligator (generally thought to be a crocodile) embroidered on the chest.
In 1963, Lacoste created a sensation in racquet technology by patenting the first tubular steel tennis racquet. Until then, racquets had almost always been made of wood. This new racquet's strings were attached to the frame by a series of wires, which wrapped around the racquet head. The racquet was marketed in Europe under the Lacoste brand, but in the United States it was marketed by Wilson Sporting Goods and achieved critical acclaim and huge popularity as the Wilson T-2000, used by American tennis great Jimmy Connors
.
In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer
, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Lacoste in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.
There are numerous explanations of why Lacoste was originally nicknamed the Crocodile. A 2006 New York Times obituary about Lacoste's son, Bernard, provides an apparently authoritative one. In the 1920s, supposedly, Lacoste made a bet with his team captain about whether he would win a certain match. The stakes were a suitcase he had seen in a Boston store; it was made of crocodile (or alligator) skin. Later, René Lacoste's friend Robert George embroidered a crocodile onto a blazer that Lacoste wore for his matches.
The week of his death, French Advertising agency Publicis
, who had been managing the account for decades, published a print ad with the Lacoste logo and the English words "See you later...", reinforcing the idea that the animal was perhaps an alligator
.
He married the famous golfing champion, Simone de la Chaume
. Their daughter Catherine Lacoste
was a champion golf
er.
The Four Musketeers were inducted simultaneously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
, in Newport, Rhode Island
, in 1976.
soy un maricón de mierda
me pageo todos los dias y violo gente
Wimbledon
U.S. Championships
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" by fans because of his tenacity on the court; he is also known worldwide as the namesake of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929.
Lacoste was one of The Four Musketeers
The Four Musketeers
The Four Musketeers, after a popular 1920s film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic, were French tennis players who dominated the game in the second half of the 1920s and early 1930s, winning 20 Grand Slam titles and 23 Grand Slam doubles...
, French tennis stars who dominated the game in the 1920s and early 1930s. He won seven Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
singles titles in the French, American, and British championships but never made the long trip to Australia to play in their championships. He was the world number one player for both 1926 and 1927.
In 1933, Lacoste founded La Société Chemise Lacoste with André Gillier. The company produced the tennis shirt which Lacoste often wore when he was playing, which had an alligator (generally thought to be a crocodile) embroidered on the chest.
In 1963, Lacoste created a sensation in racquet technology by patenting the first tubular steel tennis racquet. Until then, racquets had almost always been made of wood. This new racquet's strings were attached to the frame by a series of wires, which wrapped around the racquet head. The racquet was marketed in Europe under the Lacoste brand, but in the United States it was marketed by Wilson Sporting Goods and achieved critical acclaim and huge popularity as the Wilson T-2000, used by American tennis great Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
.
In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer
Jack Kramer (tennis player)
John Albert Kramer was an American tennis player of the 1940s. A World Number 1 player for a number of years, he is a possible candidate for the title of the greatest tennis player of all time. He was considered the father and the leading promoter of the professional tennis tours...
, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Lacoste in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.
There are numerous explanations of why Lacoste was originally nicknamed the Crocodile. A 2006 New York Times obituary about Lacoste's son, Bernard, provides an apparently authoritative one. In the 1920s, supposedly, Lacoste made a bet with his team captain about whether he would win a certain match. The stakes were a suitcase he had seen in a Boston store; it was made of crocodile (or alligator) skin. Later, René Lacoste's friend Robert George embroidered a crocodile onto a blazer that Lacoste wore for his matches.
The week of his death, French Advertising agency Publicis
Publicis
Publicis Groupe is a French multinational advertising and communications company, headquartered in Paris, France. It is one of the world's three largest advertising holding companies . Its current president is Maurice Lévy. Publicis Groupe S.A...
, who had been managing the account for decades, published a print ad with the Lacoste logo and the English words "See you later...", reinforcing the idea that the animal was perhaps an alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
.
He married the famous golfing champion, Simone de la Chaume
Simone de la Chaume
Simone Thion de la Chaume was a French amateur golfer.In 1924, she became the first foreign player to win the British Girls Amateur and in 1927 the first to win the British Ladies Amateur, then the most prestgious tournament in British and European ladies' golf and an event her daughter, Catherine...
. Their daughter Catherine Lacoste
Catherine Lacoste
Catherine Lacoste is a French amateur golfer. She won the 1967 U.S. Women's Open as a 22-year-old amateur, playing in just her third professional golf tournament...
was a champion golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er.
The Four Musketeers were inducted simultaneously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The hall of fame and honors players and contributors to the sport of tennis and includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility, and a court tennis facility.-History:The hall of fame and...
, in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, in 1976.
soy un maricón de mierda
me pageo todos los dias y violo gente
- Singles champion: 1925, 1927, 1929
- Singles finalist: 1926, 1928
- Doubles champion: 1925, 1929
- Doubles finalist: 1927
Wimbledon
- Singles champion: 1925, 1928
- Singles finalist: 1924
- Doubles champion: 1925
U.S. Championships
U.S. Open (tennis)
The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
- Singles champion: 1926, 1927
- Mixed finalist: 1926, 1927