It had been eleven years since the Titanic had sunk. Did René Lacoste have that on his mind as he boarded the ocean liner France*? Not at all. That wasn’t remotely his style. Le Havre to New York was a seven-day crossing, and once ashore again on another continent, there would be a whole new world to discover – new sights and sounds, a new culture, a new language. Above all, there would be the tournament, with that first play-off against the Australian squad. That’s probably what was on young Lacoste’s mind as he stepped aboard, carrying his suitcase and rackets.

René Lacoste was accompanied by his mother Marie-Madeleine on the lengthy voyage aboard the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique's four-funnel liner. She thought he was too young to cross the Atlantic alone. There were also three men with them on the journey. Firstly, the captain of France’s Davis Cup team, Allan H. Muhr, the man who’d given Lacoste his chance. Muhr had also selected two seasoned players for this Inter-Zonal play-off, Pierre Hirsch and Jacques Brugnon, who were older and more experienced than René. The celebrated Four Musketeers line-up wasn’t yet complete – Henri Cochet had yet to join them, and Hirsch had not yet ceded his spot to Jean Borotra – but this team already looked like it could go the distance.

In those days, ocean liners were fashionable playgrounds for the upper classes to meet and socialize. In fact, a few years later, it was on another Atlantic crossing that Lacoste met the woman who was to become his wife, champion golfer Simone Thion de la Chaume. During this first cruise, though, young René got to know an American entrepreneur who owned a San Francisco department store. His new friend introduced him to mahjong, a Chinese tile-based game that instantly captivated him.

Playing mahjong gave René time to think, occupying him while he pondered. Perhaps the idea for his first invention was already taking shape: a travel mahjong table, for which he would soon file his very first patent. But the tennis champ also looked after his body. Training alongside his two teammates, Lacoste ran, stretched and did gymnastics exercises. Occasionally the three men would even take their rackets onto the ship’s wooden deck and exchange a few rallies. America was looming closer, and so were the Australians.