The Most Famous

TENNIS PLAYERS from France

This page contains a list of the greatest French Tennis Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,569 Tennis Players, 65 of which were born in France. This makes France the birth place of the 4th most number of Tennis Players behind Australia, and Russia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary French Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous French Tennis Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of French Tennis Players.

1. René Lacoste (1904 - 1996)

With an HPI of 66.90, René Lacoste is the most famous French Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages on wikipedia.

Jean René Lacoste (2 July 1904 – 12 October 1996) was a 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 tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929, and eventually founded the brand and its logo in 1933. Lacoste was one of the Four Musketeers with Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, and Henri Cochet, French players who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He won seven Grand Slam singles titles at the French, American, and British championships and was an eminent baseline player and tactician of the pre-war period. As a member of the French team, Lacoste won the Davis Cup in 1927 and 1928. Lacoste was ranked the World No. 1 player in some rankings for 1926, 1927 and 1929. He also won a bronze medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics.

2. Suzanne Lenglen (1899 - 1938)

With an HPI of 62.42, Suzanne Lenglen is the 2nd most famous French Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 47 different languages.

Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (French pronunciation: [syzan lɑ̃ɡlɛn]; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World Hard Court Champion in singles, and ten times in total. Lenglen won six Wimbledon singles titles, including five in a row from 1919 to 1923, and was the champion in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at the first two open French Championships in 1925 and 1926. In doubles, she was undefeated with her usual partner Elizabeth Ryan, highlighted by another six titles at Wimbledon. Lenglen was the first leading amateur to turn professional. She ranked as the greatest women's tennis player from the amateur era in the 100 Greatest of All Time series on the Tennis Channel in 2012. Coached by her father Charles throughout her career, Lenglen began playing tennis at age 11, becoming the youngest major champion in history with her 1914 World Hard Court Championship title at age 15. This success, along with her balletic playing style and brash personality, helped make Lenglen a national heroine in a country coping with the aftermath of World War I. After the war had delayed her career four years, Lenglen was largely unchallenged. She won her Wimbledon debut in 1919 in the second-longest final in history, the only one of her major singles finals she did not win by a lopsided scoreline. Her only post-war loss came in a retirement against Molla Mallory, her only amateur match in the United States. Afterwards, she began a 179-match win streak, during which she defeated Helen Wills in the high-profile Match of the Century in 1926. Following a misunderstanding at Wimbledon later that year, Lenglen abruptly retired from amateur tennis, signing to headline a professional tour in the United States beginning that same year. Referred to by the French press as La Divine (The Goddess), Lenglen revolutionised the sport by integrating the aggressive style of men's tennis into the women's game and breaking the convention of women competing in clothing unsuitable for tennis. She incorporated fashion into her matches, highlighted by her signature bandeau headwear. Lenglen is recognised as the first female athlete to become a global sport celebrity and her popularity led Wimbledon to move to its larger modern-day venue. Her professional tours laid the foundation for the series of men's professional tours that continued until the Open Era, and led to the first major men's professional tournament the following year. Lenglen was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1978, and the second show court at the site of the French Open is named in her honour.

3. Jean Borotra (1898 - 1994)

With an HPI of 57.88, Jean Borotra is the 3rd most famous French Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Jean Laurent Robert Borotra (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ʁɔbɛʁ bɔ.ʁotʁa], Basque pronunciation: [borotɾa]; 13 August 1898 – 17 July 1994) was a French tennis champion. He was one of the "Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Borotra was imprisoned in Itter Castle during the latter years of World War II and subsequently fought in the Battle for Castle Itter.

4. Max Decugis (1882 - 1978)

With an HPI of 56.87, Max Decugis is the 4th most famous French Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Maxime Omer Mathieu Decugis or Décugis (French pronunciation: [maksim dɔkyʒiz, - de-]; 24 September 1882 – 6 September 1978) was a French tennis player. He won the French Championships eight times (a French club members-only tournament before 1925). He also won three Olympic medals at the 1900 Paris Olympics and the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, with a gold medal in the mixed doubles partnering Suzanne Lenglen.

5. Henri Cochet (1901 - 1987)

With an HPI of 56.57, Henri Cochet is the 5th most famous French Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Henri Jean Cochet (French: [ɑ̃ʁi ʒɑ̃ ˈkɔʃɛ]; 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 Villeurbanne, Rhône, Cochet won a total 22 majors including seven Grand Slam singles, five doubles and three mixed doubles. In addition he won three singles, two doubles and one mixed doubles ILTF majors. He also won one professional major in singles. During his major career, he won singles and doubles titles on three different surfaces: clay, grass and wood. He was ranked as world No. 1 player for four consecutive years, 1928 through 1931 by A. Wallis Myers. Cochet turned professional in 1933, but after a less than stellar pro career, he was reinstated as an amateur in 1945 after the end of World War II. The Four Musketeers were inducted simultaneously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in 1976. Cochet died in 1987 in Paris at age 85.

6. Yannick Noah (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 56.52, Yannick Noah is the 6th most famous French Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 47 different languages.

Yannick Noah (French pronunciation: [janik nɔa]; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. Noah won the French Open in 1983, and is currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams. During his nearly two-decade career, Noah captured 23 singles titles and 16 doubles titles, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 3 in July 1986 and attaining the world No. 1 doubles ranking the following month. Since his retirement from the game, Noah has remained in the public eye as a popular music performer and as the co-founder, with his mother, of a charity organization for underprivileged children. Noah is also the father of former NBA player Joakim Noah.

7. Jacques Brugnon (1895 - 1978)

With an HPI of 53.87, Jacques Brugnon is the 7th most famous French Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

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 in Paris. He was primarily a doubles specialist who won 10 Grand Slam doubles titles in the French, American, Australian and British championships. Additionally he won two mixed doubles titles at Roland Garros partnering Suzanne Lenglen. He was also a fine singles player but never won a major title. He played in 20 Wimbledon Championships between 1920 and 1948 and achieved his best singles result in 1926 when he reached the semifinals, losing in a close five-set match to Howard Kinsey. He also competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics and the 1924 Summer Olympics. Between 1921 and 1934, he played 31 times for the French Davis Cup team, mainly as a doubles player, compiling a record of 26 wins versus 11 losses. He was part of the famous Four Musketeers team that conquered the Cup in 1927 against the US, and a member of four of the five teams that defended it successfully through 1931. Brugnon was ranked World No. 9 for 1927 by A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph. The Four Musketeers were inducted simultaneously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1976.

8. Maurice Germot (1882 - 1958)

With an HPI of 53.59, Maurice Germot is the 8th most famous French Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Maurice Germot (French pronunciation: [mɔʁis ʒɛʁmo, moʁ-]; 15 November 1882 – 6 August 1958) was a French tennis player and Olympic champion. He was twice an Olympic Gold medallist in doubles, partnering Max Decugis in 1906 and André Gobert in 1912, and a Silver medallist in singles in 1906. Germot won the French Championships in 1905, 1906 and 1910, and was a finalist in 1908, 1909 and 1911. In major events, Germot reached the finals of the World Covered Court Championships, played on a wood court in Stockholm, Sweden in 1913, finishing runner-up to Anthony Wilding. He also reached the quarterfinals of the World Hard Court Championships and Wimbledon in 1914.

9. André Prévost (1860 - 1919)

With an HPI of 53.14, André Prévost is the 9th most famous French Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

André Adrien Hippolyte Prévost (26 March 1860 – 15 February 1919) was a tennis player competing for France. In 1900, he finished as the runner-up to Paul Aymé in the singles event of the Amateur French Championships . Prévost also competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, where he and Georges de la Chapelle shared the bronze medal with Harold Mahony and Arthur Norris in the men's doubles event. His relative, Yvonne, won silver in the women's singles.

10. André Gobert (1890 - 1951)

With an HPI of 52.39, André Gobert is the 10th most famous French Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

André Henri Gobert (30 September 1890 – 6 December 1951) was a tennis player from France. Gobert is a double Olympic tennis champion of 1912. At the Stockholm Games, he won both the men's singles and doubles indoor gold medals.

People

Pantheon has 79 people classified as French tennis players born between 1852 and 2002. Of these 79, 60 (75.95%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living French tennis players include Yannick Noah, Gaël Monfils, and Amélie Mauresmo. The most famous deceased French tennis players include René Lacoste, Suzanne Lenglen, and Jean Borotra. As of April 2024, 14 new French tennis players have been added to Pantheon including Olivier Delaître, Benjamin Bonzi, and Alexandra Fusai.