Roland Garros 1928

All for one and one for all!

1928. The first Sunday in June. The first final in history. The heat beat down on the completely new Roland Garros stadium. A thunderstorm rumbled in the Paris sky. Unruffled, two musketeers faced each other. Henri Cochet, known as “the Magician”, pulled shots out of his hat of which he alone knew the secret: powerful shots, volleys and smashes. In short, out-and-out attack. Opposite him René Lacoste, known as “The Crocodile”, was hanging on. Less powerful than his opponent, he intercepted into all the balls and played on Cochet’s backhand, his weak point. “The Magician” struggled to find the right formula and Lacoste took the first set. Cut to the quick, Henri Cochet lifted his head up and controlled the ball, whipping it back earlier and earlier. The science of René Lacoste diminished under the weight of the shots struck at him. Courageously, the crocodile saved five match points before bowing out (5/7, 6/3, 6/1, 6/3). Roland Garros, the theatre of emotions, was not yet aware of all the magic which would ensue on this ochre ground with the passing years. The dramatist Tristan Bernard, a spectator at this first founding drama, wrote: “The two hours I spent there at the court count amongst the best of my life”.A month later, the two musketeers returned to the surroundings of Porte d’Auteuil for the final of the Davis Cup. That time, they were on the same side. With their brothers-in-arms, Jean Borotra and Jacques Brugnon beside them, they retained the silver bowl against the Americans led by the formidable William Tilden. Henri Cochet was carried shoulder high in triumph. History was on the move. For all time...