The Maxply Effect: How Automotive Advances Ended 400 Years of Tradition
- Berlin Tennis Gallery
- Apr 27
- 2 min read
Updated: May 31
For more than four centuries, from the 1500s to the early 1900s, tennis racquets were made from solid pieces of wood. It was a tradition that seemed unbreakable — until industrial innovation, much like in the automotive world, paved the way for something new. Earlier attempts had been made to build racquets using layered wood, similar to the bentwood furniture techniques pioneered by Thonet. However, these early efforts failed because the glues available at the time could not withstand moisture and harsh weather conditions. The laminated frames would warp, crack, or fall apart, making solid wood the only reliable option for centuries.
That changed in the 1930s, when stronger, weather-resistant adhesives finally made durable, multi-layered constructions possible. Dunlop seized the moment and introduced the Dunlop Maxply: the first commercially successful laminated tennis racquet.
Even its name told the story of innovation. "Maxply" — short for "Maximum Ply" — reflected the new process of pressing and gluing multiple thin layers of wood into a single, high-performance frame. The result was a racquet that was lighter, stronger, and far more consistent than anything crafted from solid wood.
The impact was immediate and profound. The Maxply quickly became the racquet of choice for professionals worldwide. Rod Laver used it to win the Grand Slam in both 1962 and 1969, cementing its place in tennis history.
The final, almost poetic moment came at Wimbledon in 1981, when John McEnroe, playing with a Dunlop Maxply, defeated Björn Borg and became the last player ever to win The Championships with a wooden racquet. It was the closing chapter of an era — a story perfectly scripted by history itself.
Today, the Dunlop Maxply remains a timeless icon of tennis excellence and industrial innovation. After Charles Goodyear’s discovery of vulcanized rubber had revolutionized the game nearly a hundred years earlier, it was once again a breakthrough rooted in the automotive world that brought the next true game changer to the sport of tennis.
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About the Author:
Andreas Fixemer
Berlin Tennis Gallery
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#Dunlop #Maxply #Automotive #TennisHistory
