Service: “Crocodile Road to Roland Garros”: Win an exclusive VIP package for the French Open in Paris

tennisnet.com and Lacoste present the “Crocodile Road to Roland Garros” – learn more about the life of company founder and tennis legend René Lacoste in our new series and win an exclusive VIP package for the French Open as well as great weekly prizes from the sports and lifestyle brand.

Ex-tennis player and murder creator René Lacoste strived for perfection throughout his life and tinkered during and after his active career as a tennis pro on the various equipment that moved tennis to progress.

The invention of the ball throwing machine was not the only invention that the Frenchman developed and thus revolutionized the tennis market. Today’s generation of tennis rackets is fundamentally different from the earlier models of Lacoste’s time. The rackets were made of wood and significantly heavier in weight than today’s models. With a smaller head and a narrower string, these have little to do with the working equipment of today’s stars. The Parisian, born in 1904, laid the foundation for this development in the early 1930s.

The tennis genius and lifestyle icon had the idea of replacing the core of wooden rackets with metal. The power transmission through the modified racket core was so immense that Lacoste secured the patent rights to this process in the same year – the revolution of tennis rackets began in 1931.

To get an expert opinion on this topic, Lacoste worked together with the French aviation company Air Equipment. The fashion designer of the cult brand tested various models and the aerodynamic properties of the materials using the crocodile logo.

Lacoste succeeded in transferring its results to tennis, using special metals that were also used in the Concorde and Caravelle aircraft models.

Over three decades, Lacoste continued to develop the racquets and worked on the racquet of the future, which was to be lighter and more powerful than its predecessors.

The 30th. March 1963 Lacoste applied for patent L.38.607 for fixing tennis strings to a metal frame – the revolution in tennis reached a climax and should not be stopped until today. The first steel tennis racket model was called Lacoste RL07 and was also patented. The initials of the company founder in the name of the racket could not be missing.

In addition, Lacoste wrapped medical tape around the club grips of his and his Davis Cup team to provide better grip. This is how the idea for today’s grip tape was born, which should not be missing on any modern racquet. Some players change this several times per match. Lacoste’s invention, which came about on the side.

The steel bat, on the other hand, was hard and meticulous work for the Frenchman, who kept getting his teammates to act as test players for his research. Of course, Lacoste also helped himself and worked on his steel racket under real conditions.

In the year of the invention, a model of the Lacoste steel bat was played for the first time at an international tournament. Pierre Darmon came to Wimbledon in 1963 with the modern form of the tennis racket and made his countryman’s invention socially acceptable.

As part of the Crocodile Road to Roland Garros and the French Open in Paris, Lacoste is giving away an exclusive VIP package including VIP tickets, backstage access, hotel, flight, welcome package and much more. We will ask you a weekly competition question for several weeks. The prize will be raffled among all participants of our prize draw, which will be open until the 29th day of the competition. April 2018 is running. In addition, there is a great Lacoste product to win every week. This time it is a multifunctional weekender bag from the current collection of the cult brand, which can be used as a carrier bag and backpack. You know the answer to our competition question this week? Post your answer on Facebook and with a bit of luck you’ll be the lucky winner. The competition runs until Sunday, the 25th. March 2018.