Henri Cochet

Henri Cochet was a French champion tennis player born on December 1, 1901 near Lyon in Villeurbanne, France. At a very young age, it was not surprising that Cochet was attracted to the tennis court, his father being the secretary of the tennis club. He worked as a ball boy at the tennis club where he practiced with his sister and friends when no one was playing.

At the age of 20 in 1921, Cochet competed in Paris where he won against Jean Borotra. Cochet was a member of the Davis Cup Team from 1922-1924 and 1926-1933. In 1922, he and Borotra played on the Davis Cup. They were joined in 1923 by Jacques Brugnon and René Lacoste on the Davis Cup team. This was the start of the so-called “Four Musketeers of France” as Cochet and the other three tennis players dominated the tennis world in the second half of the 1920s and the early part of the1930s. Cochet, with the help of the rest of the Four Musketeers, was able to win the Davis Cup from the U.S. in 1927. They won six straight times in the Davis Cup until 1932.

Cochet won several Grand Slam titles in the singles category in the French, British and American Championships. In 1926, he became popular for ending the 6-year reign of Bill Tilden in the U.S. Championships by defeating him in the quarterfinals. He also this year won his first Grand Slam and first French Championship in the men’s singles category. He prevailed in the French Singles for three more times in 1928, 1930 and 1932. He won his first Wimbledon title in 1927 and the second one was in 1929. He won his only U.S. Championship title in 1928.

From 1928 to 1930, he became World No. 1 for three successive years and was always in the World top ten from 1022 to 1033. He, however, failed to snag the title in the Australian Championship and was also not successful in defending all his Grand Slam titles.

Called "The Ballboy of Lyon," Cochet was also an Olympian, winning 2 silver medals for France in 1924 for the men’s singles and doubles categories. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Island in 1976 together with the other three members of the “Four Musketeers” in 1976. He later died in April 1, 1987 in Paris.