Maxima Spagehtti String

Rarities

Maxima De Luxe Spaghetti (1977)

Condition
9
10: New
9: Mint
8: Excellent
7: Good
6: Fair
5: Average
4: Below Average
3: Poor
| Rarity
10
10: Impossibly rare
9: Extremely rare
8: Hard to find
7: Fairly rare
6: Uncommon
5: Common
<4: Big Seller
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About Spaghetti

The “spaghetti racket” emerged as a revolutionary yet controversial innovation in tennis during the late 1970s, challenging traditional norms with its unique double-strung design that allowed for exaggerated topspin. This concept of double-stringing had some historical precedent, with inventors George Hookham and Alexander Hodgkinson filing British patents in 1881 for rackets with strings arranged flush with the frame or double-stringing on each side. Although double-strung rackets briefly gained popularity in the 1920s, their use quickly faded. The spaghetti racket was created in 1972 by Werner Fischer, a German horticulturist, who aimed to replicate the spin effects of table tennis paddles in standard tennis. Despite initial rejection by top German players, amateur Erwin Müller found success with it, and players like Georges Goven and Barry Phillips-Moore adopted or adapted the design, with Phillips-Moore famously praising it as “the greatest thing since boiled water.” Fischer applied for a U.S. patent in 1977 and was granted it in 1980.The racket first gained public attention in 1977 through Mike Fishbach, a 22-year-old from Great Neck, Long Island. While on a European tour, Fishbach noticed Phillips-Moore’s racket and later recreated it with his brother using nylon strings, plastic tubing, and adhesive tape. Fishbach’s success with the racket was highlighted when he qualified for the 1977 U.S. Open, defeating Billy Martin and upsetting 16th-seeded Stan Smith. His use of the racket, described as having “loose, dangling strings” that imparted tremendous spin, became a phenomenon. Georges Goven used it to upset world No. 9 Ilie Năstase, who initially refused to play against it but later adopted it himself. The racket’s peak came when Năstase used it in the final of the 1977 Raquette d’Or, leading to Guillermo Vilas resigning in frustration. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) eventually banned the racket in 1978, prompting a reevaluation of equipment standards in tennis. Despite its brief presence, the spaghetti racket left a lasting legacy, highlighting the tension between innovation and tradition in sports.

About Maxima

In 1918, the Billour brothers’ furniture factory in Bordighera converted to the production of rackets for the English (about 3,000) residing on the Riviera and members of the Bordighera Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, the oldest club in Italy created in 1878, four years after the major Wingfield patented the new game of tennis. In 1920 the Billour only produced rackets under the name of S.I.R.T (Italian Tennis Racket Company), also exported to England for their excellent quality. In 1926, two good tennis players, Pier Giovanni Pietra (Italian) and George Prouse (New Zealander), became representatives of Dunlop after completing their studies, an English brand that produced rackets and tennis balls. They founded “Davis”: Dunlop Agency Italy Sports Sales to import Dunlop products from England. On October 11, 1935, the League of Nations established an embargo that no longer allowed commercial exchanges between Italy and England. So Pietra and Prouse found themselves with the opposite problem of the Billour. The two players could no longer import Dunlop English products and the Billour brothers could no longer sell their Sirt in England. So they founded Maxima a now famous italian brand was born, produced by Sirt. “For almost half a century, the Maxima Tournament was the best-selling racket in our country and adopted by all the great Italian champions. In 1978, Maxima sold 200,000 rackets, of which 90,000 were ‘Maxima Tournament’,” Other models were the Scudetto, the Hurricane, Suprema, shielf, Torneo, Aurea, Conquest, JUVENTUS, Scudetto

Historic Gallery

Specifications (👋 not yet accurate….check back soon)

MeasurementsValuePerformanceScore
Weight360gPower19/100
Length27inchControl41/100
Balance5pt head heavySpin40/100
GripPerforated leatherHandling78/100
Strings18 x 20 | syntheticComfort89/100
FlexibilityRA 43Consistency59/100

Gallery

Spaghetti Racket History

ntries:

EVENTYEAR
Alex Hodgkinson filed a patent for a double-strung wooden racket1881
Double-strung rackets had a vogue in the 1920s1920s
Werner Fischer conceived the double-strung system1971
Werner Fischer created the spaghetti racquet1972
The spaghetti racket was released to the market1976
Fischer’s team became Bavarian team tennis championsJune 1977
Fischer applied for a U.S. patentMay 1977
ITF invited reports on the double-strung racket at their AGMJuly 1977
Fishbach defeated Billy Martin at the U.S. OpenAugust 31, 1977
ITF and USTA temporarily banned the spaghetti racketOctober 1977
Fischer was granted U.S. Patent No. 4,190,2491980
U.S. appeals court upheld USTA’s banMarch 1981
ITF permanently banned the spaghetti racquetJuly 1978

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