The Four Musketeers, (french: Les Quatre Mousquetaires) named after a 1921

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of Alexandre Dumas'

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

,Chris Bowers
"The New Musketeers"
''Davis Cup News'', February 27, 2009 were French

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

players who were top competitors of the game during the second half of the 1920s and early 1930s, winning 20

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

titles and 23 Grand Slam doubles."French foursome remains fearsome"
''

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

'', January 22, 2009 They also led France to six straight

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

wins, 1927–32, in an era when Cup matches enjoyed a prestige similar to today's

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

finals. At its creation in 1927, the men's

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

trophy was named the '' Coupe des Mousquetaires'' in honour of the quartet.

The Musketeers

The Musketeers were: *

Jean Borotra Jean Laurent Robert Borotra (, ; 13 August 1898 – 17 July 1994) was a French tennis champion. He was one of the "The Four Musketeers (tennis), Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Borotra wa ...

(1898–1994) *

Jacques Brugnon Jacques Marie Stanislas Jean Brugnon (11 May 1895 – 20 March 1978), nicknamed "Toto", was a French tennis player, one of the famous " Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was born in and died ...

(1895–1978) *

Henri Cochet Henri Jean Cochet (; 14 December 1901 – 1 April 1987) was a French tennis player. He was a world No. 1 ranked player, and a member of the famous " Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Born in ...

(1901–1987) *

René Lacoste Jean René Lacoste was a French people, French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste polo shirt, tennis shirt, which h ...

(1904–1996) While Brugnon was primarily a doubles specialist, Borotra, Cochet, and Lacoste won many singles titles. Between them, they won three United States Championships at Forest Hills, six consecutive

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

titles from 1924 through 1929, and 10 titles in 11 years at the

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

, 1922 through 1932 (up to and including 1924, though, the tournament was only open to members of French tennis clubs, therefore wasn't a major tournament until 1925). From 1926 until 1930 a musketeer, Lacoste or Cochet, was ranked No. 1 in the world and in 1926 and 1927 all four musketeers were ranked in the top-10. The only player capable of challenging their dominance was the great American

Bill Tilden William Tatem Tilden II (February 10, 1893 – June 5, 1953), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. Tilden was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional b ...

( world number-one from 1920 until 1926, when Lacoste took over the position). The Musketeers were finally eclipsed by the arrival of Ellsworth Vines,

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

and Jack Crawford on the international tennis scene in the first half of the 1930s.

Legacy

The success of The Four Musketeers in winning the 1927 Davis Cup against the United States was directly responsible for the decision by the

French Tennis Federation The French Tennis Federation (french: Fédération française de tennis, FFT) is the governing body for tennis in France. It was founded in 1920, and is tasked with the organisation, co-ordination and promotion of the sport. It is recognised by the ...

to build the Roland Garros venue at Porte d'Auteuil. The four men were national icons in France and all of them lived to be at least 83 years old, basking in glory for many years after their retirement from tennis. They were simultaneously inducted into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1976. Les Quatre Nouveaux Mousquetaires

The New Musketeers, (''Nouveaux Mousquetaires'' or ''néo-Mousquetaires'') coined in ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...

'' and adopted by the

French press A French press, also known as a cafetière, ''cafetière à piston'', ''caffettiera a stantuffo'', press pot, coffee press, or coffee plunger, is a coffee brewing device, although it can also be used for other tasks. In 1923 Ugo Paolini, an Ital ...

, refers to the present-day squad of star players headlined by

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...

Gaël Monfils Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. H ...

Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...

and

Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour. ...

."Les copains se prennent au jeu"
, ''L'Équipe'', October 28, 2008 In 2008 France boasted four Top-20 players, a feat never before achieved since computer rankings were established in 1973. This configuration of the same four players in the Top-20 has been reproduced in mid-2011, in early 2012 and early 2016.

References

Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Four Musketeers French male tennis players Nicknamed groups of tennis players Quartets

The Musketeers

Legacy

See also

References