In an interview with The Times back in France in 1918, Garros said, “Of course I am going back to the front.”

Garros was killed when his plane was shot down a few months later, a day before his 30th birthday.

A decade later, a tennis stadium was constructed in Paris by Émile Lesieur, who insisted it be named after Garros, his wartime friend.

Evan Gershkovich contributed reporting.

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