Jean Borotra
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
champion tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player. He was one of the famous "Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Career
Borotra was born in Domaine du Pouy, BiarritzBiarritz
Biarritz is a city which lies on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast, in south-western France. It is a luxurious seaside town and is popular with tourists and surfers....
, Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
and married an English woman.
Known as "the Bounding Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
", he won five Grand Slam singles titles in the French, Australian
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
, and British championships, failing to win only in the American championships, as he was defeated in the final by his countryman René Lacoste
René Lacoste
Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" by fans because of his tenacity on the court; he is also known worldwide as the namesake of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929.Lacoste was one of The Four Musketeers, French tennis...
6-4 6-0 6-4, thus missing a career Grand Slam. His first appearance was in the French Davis Cup team
France Davis Cup team
The France Davis Cup team represents France in Davis Cup tennis competition, and is governed by the Fédération Française de Tennis.France is the third most successful nation, with 9 wins...
of 1921.
A member of François de la Rocque
François de la Rocque
François de La Rocque was leader of the French right-wing league named the Croix de Feu from 1930–1936, before forming the more moderate Parti Social Français , seen as a precursor of Gaullism.- Early life :François de La Rocque was born on 6 October 1885 in Lorient, Brittany, the third son to a...
's Parti social français (PSF), he became 1st General Commissioner to Sports from August 1940 to April 1942 during Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, leading the Révolution nationale
Révolution nationale
The Révolution nationale was the official ideological name under which the Vichy regime established by Marshal Philippe Pétain in July 1940 presented its program...
s efforts in sports policy.
Arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
in November 1942, Borotra was deported to a concentration camp in Germany and then Itter Castle
Itter Castle
Itter Castle is a small castle standing on a high knoll in Itter, a village in North Tyrol , 20 km west of Kitzbühel.The castle was used from 1943–45, during the Nazi occupation of France, to incarcerate prominent French prisoners...
in North Tyrol
North Tyrol
North Tyrol, or North Tirol is the main part of the Austrian state of Tyrol, located in the western part of the country. The other part of the state is East Tyrol, which also belongs to Austria, but does not share a border with North Tyrol....
until May 1945.
The Four Musketeers were inducted simultaneously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The hall of fame and honors players and contributors to the sport of tennis and includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility, and a court tennis facility.-History:The hall of fame and...
in Newport
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in 1976. In 1984, Borotra received a Distinguished Service award from the United States Sports Academy in recognition of his achievements.
On 17 July 1994, Jean Borotra, founder and president of honour of the CIFP (International Committee for Fair Play) died at the age of 95, after a short illness. He was buried at Arbonne
Arbonne
Arbonne is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It is located in the province of Labourd.-References:* -External links:*...
.
The International Fair Play Committee, which recognises achievements annually, awards a Jean Borotra World Fair Play Trophy.
Grand Slam record
- Australian ChampionshipsAustralian OpenThe Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
- Singles champion: 1928
- Men's Doubles champion: 1928
- Mixed Doubles champion: 1928
- French Championships
- Singles champion: 1924, 1931
- Singles runner-up: 1925, 1929
- Men's Doubles champion: 1925, 1928, 1929, 1934, 1936
- Men's Doubles finalist: 1927
- Mixed Doubles champion: 1927, 1934
- Wimbledon
- Singles champion: 1924, 1926
- Singles finalist: 1925, 1927, 1929
- Men's Doubles champion: 1925, 1932, 1933
- Mixed Doubles champion: 1925
- U.S. ChampionshipU.S. Open (tennis)The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
- Singles finalist: 1926
- Mixed Doubles champion: 1926