Spaghetti racquet

It applied far more spin to a tennis ball than conventionally strung racquets, leading to disorienting movements through the air, especially after bounces.

[4] Tennis great Arthur Ashe described the racquet thusly: “Because the main strings of the racket are doubled over the supporting—horizontal—strings and tied to them, they all move with a sliding motion, giving the ball topspin of such acute velocity that you can't duplicate it.

It also means that a guy coming to the net against it is open to the most exaggerated lobs, which he can't possibly reach.”[1] Double-strung racquets had some limited precedent in the sport.

A few other players, including Frenchman Georges Goven and Australian Barry Phillips-Moore, adopted Fischer’s racquet or made their own versions.

[4] The spaghetti racquet first gained public attention in 1977 through the play of 22-year-old Mike Fishbach, a native of Great Neck, Long Island.

Later, in a camera shop in Gstaad, Switzerland, Fishbach saw a similarly strung racquet and, while the shop’s owner would not let him buy it, he did let Fishbach see it up close — close enough that, upon returning to Long Island, he and his brother Peter set about recreating one with nylon strings, plastic tubing and adhesive tape.

I was running the whole time against Goven.”[14][15] A little-known Frenchman, Christophe Roger-Vasselin, used the racquet to reach his first career finals at the Marcel Porée Cup, losing to Guillermo Vilas.

[16] (Using the racquets, Roger-Vasselin and Jacques Thamin won the tournament's doubles competition, beating Ilie Năstase and Ion Țiriac in the final.

On October 1, the executive committee of the International Tennis Federation issued a temporary ban on all double-strung racquets at its tournaments.

[22] The ban took effect two days later, on October 3, making the Năstase/Vilas match the last major professional competition to feature the racquet.

Fisher signed over rights to market the racquet to Gunter Harz, a native German living in Omaha.

[31] In 1981, a U.S. appeals court upheld the USTA’s ban, saying it furthered the association’s “legitimate goals of preserving the essential character and integrity of the game of tennis.”[32][33]