René Lacoste aged 19, the beginnings of the crocodile. | LACOSTE
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July 28, 2023 – Heritage
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The incredible story behind the crocodile - part 1

René Lacoste chooses his destiny

Tennis player from the 20s. AI-generated image using MidJourney.

AI-generated image using MidJourney.

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Tennis, or university? At 19, René Lacoste settled the question

René Lacoste was at the age for making big decisions. He was also bold and determined enough to carry them through. In early 1923 René was 19 and his mind was already firmly made up. Despite months of cramming for the Polytechnique admissions test, he wouldn’t sit the exam. No more studying for him. From now on, Lacoste would focus on tennis. It seemed an obvious decision to him—and, truth be told, also to his parents Jean-Jules and Marie-Madeleine.


It was Marie-Madeleine who gave a 14-year-old René his very first tennis racket. On the modest courts of Courbevoie, where the family lived, she watched him get to grips with it, gaining mastery and customizing it over the years as he honed his game. Jean-Jules—a forceful, enterprising man and former rowing champion—had instilled a dogged work ethic in his son and the will to excel. Jean-Jules liked seeing René play tennis, but he preferred to see him win. To him, that was the whole point of it. Luckily, René showed a rare talent for victory from a very early age.

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Head held high

Just months before taking his career decision, René Lacoste won the French Covered Court Championships at the Tennis Club de Paris in the city’s chic 16th arrondissement. This elevated him to pro status—seeded in the world's biggest tournaments—and took him to London to play on the grass courts of Wimbledon. Sporting darted pants, leather-soled shoes, a white flat cap, and the cumbersome long-sleeved shirt that would eventually inspire him to invent the polo shirt, Lacoste competed both in the singles and the doubles. He was paired with French tennis star Jean Borotra, six years his senior, for the doubles. The two men knew each other well, having battled it out over the net on several occasions, but their sporting rivalry never stopped them getting along.


René Lacoste and Jean Borotra made a remarkable doubles team; Lacoste calm but determined, Borotra a flamboyant player of spectacular style. It was an explosive and highly effective pairing. At Wimbledon that year, the duo’s dazzling victory over an American doubles team propelled them to the semi-finals. Lacoste could return home to Courbevoie with his head held high. His parents were waiting for him. And there was a telegram. It was stamped “Urgent”.

What was in that urgent telegram? And where would it lead to René Lacoste? Find out in the next episode.

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You’ve been taken on a unique journey back to the year 1923 thanks to the wonders of images generated by artificial intelligence and a never-before-seen text.

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