Henri Cochet (December 14, 1901 – April 1, 1987) was a champion tennis player, one of the famous "Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Born in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, France, Cochet won seven Grand Slam singles titles in the French, American, and British championships, failing to win only in Australia. He was the World No. 1 player for three consecutive years, 1928 through 1930. He is the only male player failing to defend all 8 Grand Slam Singles titles. Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter, and a great player himself, in his 1979 autobiography included Henri Cochet in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time. The Four Musketeers were inducted simultaneously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1976. Henri Cochet died at age 85 in Paris.
French Championships * Singles champion: 1922, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1932 Wimbledon * Singles champion: 1927, 1929 U.S. Championships * Singles champion: 1928
Writing in 1979, Kramer considered the best ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Bjorn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and Rene Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best. |
