Jean René Lacoste (July 2, 1904 - October 12, 1996) was a famous French tennis player and businessman, nicknamed "the Crocodile" by fans; he is now mostly known as being the namesake of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929.

Lacoste was one of The Four Musketeers, France's tennis stars who dominated the game in the 1920s and early 1930s. He won 7 Grand Slam singles titles in the French, American, and British championships, failing to win only in Australia. He was the World No. 1 player for both 1926 and 1927.

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.Writing in 1979, Kramer considered the best player ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best.

There are numerous explanations of why Lacoste was originally nicknamed the Crocodile (or sometimes the Alligator). 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 skin. Later, a friend embroidered a crocodile onto a blazer that Lacoste wore for his matches.

He married the famous golfing champion, Simone de la Chaume. Their daughter Catherine Lacoste was a champion golfer.

The Four Musketeers were inducted simultaneously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1976.

Grand Slam results

French Championships

• '''Singles champion: 1925, 1927, 1929
• Singles finalist: 1926, 1928
• '''Doubles champion: 1925, 1929
• Doubles finalist: 1927

Wimbledon Championships

• '''Singles champion: 1925, 1928
• Singles finalist: 1924
• '''Doubles champion: 1925

U.S. Championships

• '''Singles champion: 1926, 1927
• Mixed finalist: 1926, 1927

See also

• Lacoste
• List of male tennis players*

Notes