tennishistory.com.au

Last week I came across a very early New Zealand wooden racquet made by Slazenger, presumably, in New Zealand.

As you can see, the Slazenger Matchpoint, a name used in various markets is in nice condition.

Whilst being interested in Australian racquets our interest extends to racquet makers from around the World. See the full site at www.tennishistory.com.au

What is very nice about this design is the recessed throat from gently shaped shoulders. This provides for a really well contained area for the graphics which you can see here are in pretty nice condition and different from similar vintage designs.

So we need to know more about Slazenger New Zealand, when it opened and closed the factory, what age is this model (my guess 1940’s) Any other unusual models or stories about racquet or ball makers in New Zealand.

Since Australia is the 3rd island of New Zealand maybe some local kiwis can help us out with some good history.

Cheers & enjoy…. Rod

Metal tennis racquets were first developed in the early 1920’s which is often not known. The most famous UK racquet was the Birmal Aluminium racquet which was extremely well forged and certain models had cord wound handles whilst others had the more standard leather grips. Whilst this was the first all metal version, combination metal head-wood handle versions were developed not only by Birmal but with huge success in the USA by a company called Dayton. These racquets were strung with piano wire strings and were reputedly highly regarded by schools for their sheer ability to survive. As a collectable, the difficulty is finding good examples with minimal paint loss.

Spalding by the way, had an aluminium head-wood handle racquet in the 1930’s shaped much like a wood racquet with relatively flat edges. Dayton’s early racquets were quite thin steel frames, however they also started a similar design with a brand called the ‘Aviator’.

Jumping up to the 1960’s, there was little development of successful metal racquets until the launch of the Wilson T-2000 was in fact designed by Frenchman, Renee Lacoste’s firm, Lacoste and versions of the racquet are available under both brands. I am no steel expert, but I believe these were made from carbon steel.

In Australia, as the reign of the local wooden racquet manufacturers was ending due to worldwide shortages in Ash plus the interest in lightweight stronger metals, a few locals began to experiment in metal racquet production. While the likes of Spalding, Slazenger, Yonex and others lauched racquets in Aluminium one innovator in South Australia was an expert in Stainless Steel, which is a much more complex metal to adapt. Nevertherless, from a backyard workshop in the early 1970’s, came the ARCO Stainless steel racquet in a standard size (at first) then oversize version. We gather people loved them. They were super strong and quite flexible and with 19lb/16lb stringing provided strength and power. See www.tennishistory.com.au for more details. If you had one let us know how they played. There were some thousands made so maybe you will be lucky enough to find one for your vintage tennis racquet collection. The green covers are the really early standard size racquets. The later models had blue covers, some were powdercoated and if you find bright silver model called a “Starmaker” that was an ARCO first attempt at a carbon steel racquet before the big switch to Stainless Steel………….. Rod

Having grown up with wooden racquets I can still remember the day that I saw my first T2000. With looks not dissimilar to the a Terminator robot sent from the future here was a racquet which just looked so cool. No string holes like conventional woodies. Flashing glints in the sunshine all made any player wielding such a weapon feel a little taller, a little faster and the shots a lot more accurate. Metal had arrived…and it could not be stopped. They were soon everywhere and being virtually indestructible, many are still available today. To be a little different my move into the new age came in the form of Yonex Gold 7500. Not many people had seen these and afterall they looked more valuable being gold and had a great shape. My racquet always looked new because indeed it was. A big serve and power game was no match for the welding on the shoulders and the poor distributor honouring the 12 month warranty ruefully handed over racquet after racquet. Whilst build quality was an issue I confess that my first YY8500 looked a true piece of beauty in that shiny green livery that finally matched the wonderful lawn courts Kooyong delivered. Just last month after 4 years looking, I finally found a really nice condition example which now hangs on the wall…..Anyone else enjoyed the love affair? …… Rod