The State of the Tennis Sneaker

When I set out to examine the state of tennis footwear in 2026, I knew there was one man I needed to speak to. At 41 years old, Vicente Muñoz is a 5.0 player and the founder of Pro Shop, a buzzy tennis concept store in New York City. A lifelong student of the sport, he rattles off shoe names and updates faster than I can transcribe them. But the gist of our conversation boils down to this: “The state of tennis footwear is pretty dire,” he says. Brands, including ASICS, Nike, and Adidas, are embroiled in a battle to out-tech each other, leaving athletes—pro and amateur alike—frustrated and footsore.