3 retro tennis shoes re-released in recent times ft. Andre Agassi

Tennis champions including Andre Agassi have known to bring sports and fashion worlds together by launching their own line of sneakers. While the originals remain an iconic piece of history, they are often reimagined with shoe designers syncing their signature styles with the players'.

While most of the hype of re-releases surrounds basketball with Nike's Air Jordan, tennis shoes have their own dedicated fan base. Let's look at three retro tennis shoes models that were recreated with a fresh new take on the classics in recent times.

#1 Andre Agassi's Nike Air Tech Challenge 2 'Hot Lava'

Andre Agassi broke out the Nike Air Tech Challenge 2 'Hot Lava' in 1990. He also wore them at the finals of the 1990 French Open. The shoes with a glow-in-the-dark hot lava splatter near the soles became immensely popular. The 'Hot Lava' colorway has also been used by Nike on LeBron’s signature basketball shoes.

The eight-time Grand Slam champion recently showed off the iconic sneakers at the Pickleball Slam 2 event in February. Andre Agassi's daughter Jaz also shared pictures of her father's famous shoes via her social media. The recreated version of 'Hot Lava' is likely to be dropped at the end of the year.

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2) John MacEnroe's Nike Mac Attack relaunched as Cactus Jack

Before Andre Agassi's 'Hot Lava' re-release announcement, Nike had dropped a re-designed version of John McEnroe's 'Mac Attack' shoes. The shoes were originally launched in 1984. That year was arguably the best in McEnroe's career as he won two Grand Slam titles, the 1984 Wimbledon and the 1984 US Open. He also captured the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Nike designed the Mac Attack with white black and grey colorway in adherence to Wimbledon's dress code. The shoe's mesh and leather combinations were an instant hit back then. Nike recently brought seven-time Grand Slam champion and rapper Travis Scott together to relaunch the Mac Attack as Cactus Jack.

Screengrab from Nike's Instagram

Later, a video surfaced and went viral on the internet in December which showed a supposed Zoom meeting at Nike with the duo engaged in a hot debate over naming the shoes. Scott later admitted it to being a marketing stunt, grabbing the attention of millions of the duo's followers. The special-edition of John McEnroe’s signature retro sneaker was released a few weeks later in December 2023 and was sold out everywhere.

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3) Roger Federer's Nike Air Zoom Vapor 9 Tour AJ3 "Racer Blue"

Before Roger Federer began his signature line with the Swiss brand On, the tennis legend was aligned with Nike. He dropped Nike Air Zoom Vapor 9 Tour AJ3 in 2017.

Image via Sportskeeda

Nike celebrated the 22-time Grand Slam champion by using the same iconic elephant print and 'Racer Blue' colorway that were used in the Air Jordan 3. Nike relaunched the shoes last year with a significant difference. The "RF" insignia has now been removed from the latest edition of the Air Zoom Vapor 9 Tour AJ3.

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With legends like Andre Agassi and Roger Federer lending their names, companies carefully curate every piece to bring out an athlete's legacy and style to the fore.