First Frenchman to Be Tennis Champion

French tennis aces Jean Borotra and René Lacoste prepare to face each other at Wimbledon.

Jean Borotra and René Lacoste (on the left and right respectively), two giants of French tennis, face the camera ahead of the men’s singles final at Wimbledon. Together they would go on to win four singles titles at Wimbledon, but Borotra’s win here was the first one, and the first ever by a Frenchman. It’s a great shame we can’t see footage from the match, a see-saw affair in which Borotra finally overcame Lacoste in the fifth set. The final result was 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.

Together with Jacques Brugnon and Henri Cochet the four were known as The Four Musketeers. They dominated the game in the 1920s and into the 1930s.