Jean Borotra

Tennis Player

• Born: August 13, 1898
• Birthplace: Domaine du Pouy, France
• Died: July 17, 1994
• Place of death: Arbonne, France

Sport: Tennis

Early Life

Jean Robert Borotra was born on August 13, 1898, near the Spanish border in Domaine du Pouy, France. He was the son of Henri Borotra and Marguerite Revet. Jean was a country boy who was always active. He became internationally known as “the Bounding Basque,” and that description fitted the style he had developed at a young age. Jean first learned tennis by playing with his brothers, Fred and Édouard. He began playing in obscure tournaments in the Basses-Pyrénées area, in the province of Pelote. Jean was an unorthodox player. Part of his training was traveling either on foot or by bicycle approximately seven miles to and from school. He seemed to have a never-ending supply of energy and enthusiasm for life and the sports he played.

The Road to Excellence

Jean developed a style of tennis that was uniquely his own. In the early tournaments in his native Basque region, his intensity and flair made him a crowd favorite. He seemed to be in constant motion. Jean always attacked, which was not the norm for tennis in his day. He even grunted when he served. Once he discovered how useful the volley could be, he became the first outstanding serve-and-volley proponent in the game. Jean attracted even broader attention when he played in a 1921 tournament in Paris. His aggressive playing style and his dramatic attire—he wore a blue beret—made him stand out.

In 1922, Jean was named to the French Davis Cup team. His reputation as an intense net player made him a feared competitor. Not until 1923 did the French Davis Cup team include all the members of what became known as the “Four Musketeers.” The other Musketeers were Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet, and René Lacoste. Brugnon was a doubles specialist, while the other two competed with Jean for the major singles titles throughout the rest of the 1920’s and into the 1930’s. There was a definite theatrical quality to Jean’s game; the more a crowd cheered for him, the better his performance. He loved to dazzle an audience, and was capable of doing so.

The Emerging Champion

Jean won his first Grand Slam singles titles in 1924, when he captured both the French and Wimbledon Championships. He was more than a tennis player, though. At the age of twenty-two, Jean had first traveled to Paris to attend the famous engineering college École Polytechnique. He was a whirlwind both on and off the court. Always believing in the benefits of fitness, Jean went through a rigorous routine of physical exercises. He lived life with the same abandon with which he played tennis. Not only did he receive a degree in engineering, but he also earned a doctorate in law.

The Four Musketeers won their first Davis Cup in 1927, and they did not relinquish the Cup until the British defeated the quartet in 1933. Each year from 1924 until 1932, one of the Musketeers won the French singles title. In 1931, Jean won the French Championship. He was able to win Wimbledon again in 1926, and he won his only Australian Championship singles title in 1928. The only Grand Slam singles title that eluded him was the U.S. National Championship (now U.S. Open). Jean did have a good deal of success in the U.S. Indoor Championship, winning that title four times; he won every odd year from 1925 to 1931. In his career, Jean won many French and British indoor titles, and he is considered by many experts to be the best indoor tennis player of all time.

Continuing the Story

Jean seemed to have a flair for the dramatic and was not above distracting his opponent with some curious antics on the court. He attempted to be a crowd pleaser at all times. His most effective shot was the high backhand volley, and he was so proficient at this stroke that it became known as the “Borotra Prod.” Jean’s flair was evident off the court also; he was very witty and charming. Never one to slow down, Jean raced from a business meeting to a train station and off to a tennis match. He won his last Grand Slam title in 1933, by capturing the Wimbledon doubles with fellow Musketeer Brugnon.

In 1940, Jean became France’s general commissioner for general education and sports. He served in that capacity until 1942, when he was captured by the German Gestapo and deported during World War II. For his military efforts, Jean was made a Commander of the British Empire and received the Croix de Guerre. He also received a medal for escaping from the Germans and a medal for resisting deportation.

After the war, Jean again played on the French Davis Cup team. In 1948, at the age of fifty, he and Marcel Bernard won the U.S. Indoor Championship doubles title; Jean’s physical fitness regimen had kept him in fine shape. In 1976, Jean and the other Musketeers were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Jean was still able to compete in veteran tennis tournaments when he was in his seventies. He died in 1994.

Summary

Jean Borotra was a wonderful showman and a great athlete, and he gave the tennis world some of its most memorable displays of prowess. With Jean and the other Musketeers, France was a top tennis power during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Tennis fans around the world loved the country boy from the Basque region.

Bibliography

Collins, Bud. Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia. Toronto: Sport Media, 2003.

Faure, Jean-Michel. “National Identity and the Sporting Champion: Jean Borotra and French History.” The International Journal of the History of Sport 13, no. 1 (1996): 86.

Parsons, John. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Tennis: The Definitive Illustrated Guide to World Tennis. London: Carlton, 2006.