10 instances when a player survived a bagel in a Grand Slam final

#2. Jean Borotra vs Rene Lacoste, 1924 French Open final

The Bounding Basque had to survive a bagel in the final en route to the French Open title in 1924

Jean Borotra and Rene Lacoste are two of the greatest French players of all-time and the greatest players of their time. Both of them were among the “Four Musketeers” who won 20 Grand Slam Singles titles and 23 Grand Slam Doubles titles during the 1920s and 1930s, and led France to six successive Davis Cup titles from 1927-1932.Known as the Bounding Basque, Borotra reached his first Grand Slam final at the 1924 French Open and was up against Lacoste (nicknamed the crocodile) who was also in his first Grand Slam final. The match was looking exciting but on the same time a little one-sided as a couple of decisive breaks handed Borotra the first two sets by the score of 7-5, 6-4.

However, Lacoste wasn’t finished yet and he bounced back into the match by bageling Borotra in the third set which was followed by winning the fourth set 7-5 to take the match to a fifth set.However, the Basque eventually triumphed over the crocodile as Borotra took the final set 6-2 to win the match and the title. However, the title does not officially count in Borotra’s Grand Slam tally as at that time, the French Open was only open to French nationals, not internationals.