RIP Nike Zoom Vapor 9 Tour 2012-2024 ala Grigor Dimitrov

David Le

Hall of Fame
Well, he was testing a white out shoe which I thought it was the Zoom Vapor 12s or perhaps a Lacoste prototype. Now it turns out he’s wearing the Adidas Urbersonic 5s but in all white. But I’m still not ruling out him still using the ZV9s later on. He’s as OCD/superstitious player I know when it comes to gear
 

lim

Professional
the all white is actually nice so these aren't retail ubers then

Screen-Shot-2024-12-27-at-1-29-00-AM.png
 

Subway Tennis

G.O.A.T.
im shocked this is the conclusion. he said on that pod he was working with Lacoste on a solution

going to the 3 stripes in a stock/new model nothing short of shocking
It’s pretty wild isn’t it? A guy who literally could not leave a shoe for over a decade suddenly switches manufactures and models in a second AND goes with a new model release with absolutely no proven history on tour. Fascinatingly out of character for Dimitrov.

@David Le is probably right though - Dimitrov will defend his Brisbane title and then appear at 2025 AO back in a pair of beaten up V9s :-D
 

gino

Legend
It’s pretty wild isn’t it? A guy who literally could not leave a shoe for over a decade suddenly switches manufactures and models in a second AND goes with a new model release with absolutely no proven history on tour. Fascinatingly out of character for Dimitrov.

@David Le is probably right though - Dimitrov will defend his Brisbane title and then appear at 2025 AO back in a pair of beaten up V9s :-D
lmao if he does that it would be hilarious

I think Nike is lame for not perpetually reissuing the 9 - they know players love it and won’t keep it in the main line out of fear of them cannibalizing the other 3 performance shoes
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
lmao if he does that it would be hilarious

I think Nike is lame for not perpetually reissuing the 9 - they know players love it and won’t keep it in the main line out of fear of them cannibalizing the other 3 performance shoes

So they should keep the 9 and the 9.5 in the lineup for us? As well as a new ever-evolving flagship Vapor V12 and beyond that draws most heavily from the 9/9.5?
 

David Le

Hall of Fame
im shocked this is the conclusion. he said on that pod he was working with Lacoste on a solution

going to the 3 stripes in a stock/new model nothing short of shocking
Idk what actually happened. He did also mentioned having a lot of ZV9s but the story behind that will never be revealed

Him going to Adidas isn’t a surprised really given he was with them during his Junior years
 

Mischko

Professional
Low to the ground and has a large stiff shank, lighter shoe overall. I think his Vapors also had a custom CF shank, maybe you know? Roger's did, but not sure about Nishikori's or Dimitrov's custom ones

Retail Vapors only had the outer frame, weren't that stiff, not sure
 

David Le

Hall of Fame
Low to the ground and has a large stiff shank, lighter shoe overall. I think his Vapors also had a custom CF shank, maybe you know? Roger's did, but not sure about Nishikori's or Dimitrov's custom ones

Retail Vapors only had the outer frame, weren't that stiff, not sure
Grig’s ZV9s has a carbon shank. Nishi’s customs has a plastic one but still custom to his liking like the CB 4.3 draguard
 

Mischko

Professional
Thanks :)

Yeah that's hugely important. I absolutely want a stiff shank in my shoes after foot injuries with shoes without one, and just overall how I move in those shoes, and how my legs feel afterwards

In these Barricades 2021 onwards my feet and legs feel just so fine afterwards, I often used to feel sore in some parts of my legs after tennis, so I notice it. And I can throw myself into the corners without thinking

Grigor, and Roger and Nishikori, are crazy good movers on the toes, I can imagine just how much it contributes to their movement
 

gino

Legend
So they should keep the 9 and the 9.5 in the lineup for us? As well as a new ever-evolving flagship Vapor V12 and beyond that draws most heavily from the 9/9.5?

Here's my ideal product portfolio:

Flagship vapor: evolution of the vapor, V12 fits the bill
Flagship cage: evolution of the VC4 or something similar with air max again
Classic vapor: vapor 9 or vapor 9.5
Classic cage: hard to pick on here. if I had to pick it would be the breathe cage i/ii - the shoe rafa won the most majors in (FO 2007, FO 2008, W 2008, AO 2009) other than the cage 3. Cage 3 would be a great one to reissue too
Modern GP shoe: GPT or GPC1 evolution
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Here's my ideal product portfolio:

Flagship vapor: evolution of the vapor, V12 fits the bill
Flagship cage: evolution of the VC4 or something similar with air max again
Classic vapor: vapor 9 or vapor 9.5
Classic cage: hard to pick on here. if I had to pick it would be the breathe cage i/ii - the shoe rafa won the most majors in (FO 2007, FO 2008, W 2008, AO 2009) other than the cage 3. Cage 3 would be a great one to reissue too
Modern GP shoe: GPT or GPC1 evolution

I think the Cage and the GP should be one shoe. Tough, outsole guarantee, top grade cushioning. Have Sinner endorse this one. No need for Rafa Cage 4s anymore unless he plays in 2025

Then a Vapor...not sure we really need a Vapor Pro now that the V12 has gone back to basics.

Then a takedown version of each one. That would be 4 shoes, all in synergy, and leave room for one-off retros of classic Nadal shoes to make some money off his lifetime deal. I wouldn't expect them to keep two standing retros in the lineup, so occasional retros would be fine. Or make them available as custom
 

gino

Legend
I think the Cage and the GP should be one shoe. Tough, outsole guarantee, top grade cushioning. Have Sinner endorse this one. No need for Rafa Cage 4s anymore unless he plays in 2025

Then a Vapor...not sure we really need a Vapor Pro now that the V12 has gone back to basics.

Then a takedown version of each one. That would be 4 shoes, all in synergy, and leave room for one-off retros of classic Nadal shoes to make some money off his lifetime deal. I wouldn't expect them to keep two standing retros in the lineup, so occasional retros would be fine. Or make them available as custom
one-off Rafa retros... a man can dream.... youre gonna send me to the wayback machine bro lol
 

gino

Legend
These Ubers are looking very nice I can’t lie.

Need that triple white asap

its kinda crazy how all white has made a major come back, even in streetwear

in tennis, i think it had something to do with the vapor pro 1 white color being so heavily used by tour pros

i fell for it lol i have two pairs of the VP1 in all white and another on the way haha
 

bobeeto

Hall of Fame
its kinda crazy how all white has made a major come back, even in streetwear

in tennis, i think it had something to do with the vapor pro 1 white color being so heavily used by tour pros

i fell for it lol i have two pairs of the VP1 in all white and another on the way haha
The Fed effect, whenever he was wearing white on white it was like God dancing with celestial booties on
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
its kinda crazy how all white has made a major come back, even in streetwear

in tennis, i think it had something to do with the vapor pro 1 white color being so heavily used by tour pros

i fell for it lol i have two pairs of the VP1 in all white and another on the way haha

It's the most versatile combo and works with anything, literally anything

Carlos has been doing it a lot too
 

Gerco

Semi-Pro
Most adidas tennis shoes use the traditional herringbone pattern, similar to those clay outsoles.
I know, but it´s how thin the pattern is that defines the clay version. In this case, Grigor´s PE resembles it. Not extremely thin like for clay though, kind of in between.
 

LiamMiguel

Semi-Pro
Custom sole as well vs stock.


Seems to be fairly similar to the stock version. That circle-thing on the medial side of the foot looks to be a pivot point. It could be to have more give for sliding or make it easier to change direction compared to a typical full herringbone. Asics has done this traditionally with the GR line, more notably in the versions before the GR8.
 

TennisD

Professional
You guys are honestly probably overthinking this - what he's got in the screenshot most closely resembles the Vapor 9s, so that's likely what they gave him to test vs the new outsole. Relatively simple!
 

gino

Legend
You guys are honestly probably overthinking this - what he's got in the screenshot most closely resembles the Vapor 9s, so that's likely what they gave him to test vs the new outsole. Relatively simple!

i mean when a dude has been using the same shoe for 12+ years i dont think the switch was that simple

and that pivot point they added to the outsole is less like the V9 outsole then the stock Ubersonic 5 outsole, which more closely resembles the V9

*edit: not a lot of times we see active TT accounts pre-2006, salute OG
 

TennisD

Professional
i mean when a dude has been using the same shoe for 12+ years i dont think the switch was that simple

and that pivot point they added to the outsole is less like the V9 outsole then the stock Ubersonic 5 outsole, which more closely resembles the V9

*edit: not a lot of times we see active TT accounts pre-2006, salute OG
It's close but I think this 'custom' one is a bit of a tighter herringbone pattern like the V9 vs the U5, but honestly at that level it starts to become less about what is objectively "better" and more about what a given player is comfortable with or THINKS is better haha.

And thanks man, I can't believe I've been here that long either :-D
 

Mischko

Professional
It's the material I think, not the pattern. When the whole sliding on hardcourt began, I think players wanted the softer more rubbery clay court compound for the outsoles. If Grisho is used to a certain slide resistance he probably wanted that again, same-ish outsole material
 

Subway Tennis

G.O.A.T.
So they should keep the 9 and the 9.5 in the lineup for us? As well as a new ever-evolving flagship Vapor V12 and beyond that draws most heavily from the 9/9.5?
Honestly now that I’ve seen the Vapor 12 close up, we can safely “let go” of the 9.x series. These 12s look absolutely amazing.

I wonder how long the Vapor pro series is going to hang around for now that Nike is doing a proper Vapor flagship again.
 

Gerco

Semi-Pro
It's the material I think, not the pattern. When the whole sliding on hardcourt began, I think players wanted the softer more rubbery clay court compound for the outsoles. If Grisho is used to a certain slide resistance he probably wanted that again, same-ish outsole material
I remember that also Andy Murray also used Under Armour shoes with clay outsole in hard courts during a period.
 

gino

Legend
It's close but I think this 'custom' one is a bit of a tighter herringbone pattern like the V9 vs the U5, but honestly at that level it starts to become less about what is objectively "better" and more about what a given player is comfortable with or THINKS is better haha.

And thanks man, I can't believe I've been here that long either :-D
Didn’t notice that ! In that case even cooler they retooled the outsole for him like that. Cheers mate, glad to see some OGs still contributing
 

jsm1373

Rookie
Honestly now that I’ve seen the Vapor 12 close up, we can safely “let go” of the 9.x series. These 12s look absolutely amazing.

I wonder how long the Vapor pro series is going to hang around for now that Nike is doing a proper Vapor flagship again.
Does anyone know if the Vapor 12 will come in wide?? Or is that never gonna happen post-Fed ON switch? A few years ago I bought 5 pairs of Vapor X wides and only have one left that isn't completely bald. Going to have to switch to Asics or another company that makes good wide tennis specific shoes. I've been a Nikehead for decades but can't cram my feet into their recent narrow Vapors
 

gino

Legend
Does anyone know if the Vapor 12 will come in wide?? Or is that never gonna happen post-Fed ON switch? A few years ago I bought 5 pairs of Vapor X wides and only have one left that isn't completely bald. Going to have to switch to Asics or another company that makes good wide tennis specific shoes. I've been a Nikehead for decades but can't cram my feet into their recent narrow Vapors

One would hope but I wouldn’t bet on it. The last on these appears to be pretty wide & im a wide footer like yourself. In general the true size 9 vapor X and Vapor pro 1 worked for me. I would recommend you take a look at the Nike Sabrina 2 - it comes in a fairly wide last and is an incredible performance shoe for tennis
 

jsm1373

Rookie
Thanks for the tip about Sabrinas! - never heard of those but looks like they could work well for tennis...

Yea I wasn't holding breath for wide Vapors, seems like once Fed left Nike gave up on wide tennis shoes
 

gino

Legend
Thanks for the tip about Sabrinas! - never heard of those but looks like they could work well for tennis...

Yea I wasn't holding breath for wide Vapors, seems like once Fed left Nike gave up on wide tennis shoes
I’m a vapor truther. Still have a handful of working Xs, VP1s, and the reissue 9.5… I still think the Sabrina 2 is a better performer than any of those, I’ve been using them almost exclusively

Maybe we will get one bland wide color on the 12s that would be great
 

Subway Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Sucks the way this always happens to top guys who go to Adidas from Nike.

Grigor literally just goes to Adidas and like clockwork…. BANG! Leg injury.

I hate this Nike -> Adidas curse, but it seems to happen so often.
 
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