Mike Fishbach

Michael Fishbach (born December 1, 1954) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.

Biography Fishbach, who grew up in Great Neck, New York, was a right-handed player, who famously used the controversial "spaghetti racquet" at the 1977 US Open. The racquet, which was double-strung and greatly increased topspin, was first used professionally by Barry Phillips-Moore. His run ended in the third round when he lost to British player John Feaver, who later described seeing balls coming off Fishback's racquet as looking like "an egg in flight". By the end of the 1977 season, Fishbach was ranked in the world's top 50.

In 1978, he made the main draw of both the French Open and Wimbledon, in addition to the US Open. He also had a win over John Lloyd in the Indianapolis Clay Court Championships that year and won a Grand Prix doubles title at Kitzbühel, with Chris Lewis. His season ended in September when he ruptured two discs in his back. The injury was serious enough that he was unable to walk for six months and it wasn't until late in 1979 that he was able to return to tennis.

He continued on the professional circuit until 1982 and now works as a whale conservationist.

Grand Prix career finals Doubles: 3 (1–2) ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Jul 1978 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Chris Lewis Pavel Huťka Pavel Složil 6–7, 6–4, 6–3Loss 1–1 Aug 1978 North Conway, U.S. Clay Bernard Mitton Robin Drysdale Van Winitsky 6–4, 6–7, 3–6Loss 1–2 Aug 1982 Stowe, U.S. Hard Eric Fromm Andy Andrews John Sadri 3–6, 4–6