The Old Era vs The Open Era, The all important shoe

 The all important Shoe

Another thing that has changed in the equipment of the top pros are their shoes, which is a very important change.  In the past flat non-marking shoes were fine on all courts, but in today’s game durability and comfort are necessities.  Players are now sliding more, changing directions faster, and moving their feet more than the past pros.  Players feet are their most important parts of their body in tennis, because without the protection they could easily injure themselves and have to drop out of tournaments.  The durability of shoes is a must especially on hard courts, look at the picture on the right side of this page.  It depicts Rafael Nadal being stretched out wide at the 2012 Australian Open Final this year against Novak Djokovic.  He has a professional made shoe by Nike especially made for him, on hardcourts.  Though the retail version is considered to be one of the toughest shoes on the market available today, he can burn through the bottom in about a few practice days and matches.  Another slider, as well as the number one seed currently Novak Djokovic also slides a lot in his game.  The picture depicts a hardcourt tournament earlier this year, he also burns through his shoes in a few matches and practices.