Cochet, Henri

▪ French athlete

born Dec. 14, 1901, Lyon, Fr.

died April 1, 1987, Saint-Germain-en-Laye

      French tennis player who, as one of the Four Musketeers (with Jean Borotra, René Lacoste, and Jacques Brugnon), helped establish the French domination of world tennis in the mid-1920s.

      Cochet's father was the secretary of a local tennis court, and as a youth Cochet spent much time chasing balls and practicing in the club's off-hours. In 1921 he moved to Paris, where he won the indoor court championships and the 1922 French championships. With the other three “musketeers,” he helped secure the Davis Cup for France six consecutive times (1927–32). In 1928 he became one of the top world players. Cochet also won the French championship five times (1922, 1926, 1928, 1930, and 1932) and Wimbledon twice (1927 and 1929).

      One of Cochet's best-known matches was his defeat of Bill Tilden (Tilden, Bill) for the 1926 U.S. championship, preventing Tilden from winning the event for the seventh straight year. Cochet also won several doubles titles in the late 1920s. Although he turned professional in 1933, he was reinstated as an amateur in 1945. He and the other “musketeers” were elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1976. Cochet published a number of books about tennis and produced a film on the history of tennis, and in his later years he operated a sporting-goods store.

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