The following review was one that I performed for Tennis Warehouse. I was selected for this play test based on my participation on their message boards and this post is a reprint of that review. The original date of the review was August 16, 2018. The SFX3 pair I reviewed is still in my rotation of shoes that I use on the courts four years later.

Tennis experience/background:
I have only been playing seriously for the last four plus years. Most of my tennis is participating in group drills 3 to 4 times a week at the 3.0 to 4.0 level.

Describe your playing style (i.e. serve & volley):
Primarily a doubles player with an attacking style, always moving forward.

Current shoe:
My current shoe of choice for hard courts are the Asics Gel Res 7.
On Har Tru clay my current shoe is the Diadora Speed Blushield 2 Clay.

How many hours did you play with the shoe?
12 hours of play on hard courts
6 hours of play on Har Tru clay
18 total hours

Normal Size: 10.5
Playtesting Size: 10.5

Comments on shoe performance:

–comfort: Probably the most comfortable tennis shoes I have ever put on my feet, and I have tried most of the high end “comfort” shoes out there including the first gen SFX. The best part of my day was arriving at the club and putting the SFX 3’s on my feet. Unlike some modern shoes, there was no bootie/sock to struggle with, no short tongue to struggle with, and no laces that dig into the top of your feet as you cinched them up. The SFX 3 was a simple place your foot in the shoe and lace them up. I do have a wider foot and normally buy 2E shoes if they are available, but that is unnecessary with the SFX 3 as my foot easily slid into the shoe with no tightness. Out on court, the comfort continued. Through out the play test I did not experience any pinching, tightness, hot spots, rubbing, or pain in any form. To be honest, they were so comfortable I just kind of forgot about the shoe until it was time to take them off. The only thing that I would possibly change would be to have a bit more cushioning in the forefoot, but even at that it had more cushioning than most shoes in its weight class. The SFX 3 is a very comfortable shoe for my feet.

–arch support: I did not experience any arch issues with the SFX 3. I have a medium arch and the stock insert provided comfortable arch support throughout the play test. I had some issues with arch support after play testing the Jet 2’s so I was a bit worried as the play test began, but I never felt the need to go to my Superfeet Blues as I have had to do in other shoes. The stock inserts worked perfectly.

–stability/support: the stability and support of the SFX 3’s was more than adequate for my needs. While they did not have the stability and support I am used to with my Gel Res 7’s, they were much better than the first generation of the SFX as well a lot of the other tennis shoes I have played in over the years. Babolat solved the stability issues I experienced in the first gen SFX as the shoe felt lower to the ground and I did not experience any ankle roll like I did in the first gen. Once I got used to the adaptable lacing system, my foot felt locked in for the entire session. I did experience a little bit of looseness the second time I wore the SFX 3, but that was easily fixed through adjusting the lacing system to add support where I needed it. As I mentioned in the comfort section, once I adapted the laces I never had to think about the shoes on my feet. There was never a moment where I felt the shoe was letting me down, nor did I have to adjust my style of play due to any perceived weakness or suppprt issues. I will not hesitate to use the SFX 3 on any of the courts surfaces I currently play.

–ventilation: Of all the improvements on the SFX 3 compared to the first version, the most noticible was the drastically improved vetillation. The old shoes were ovens. The SFX 3 was like having air conditioning in your shoes. I play tested the SFX 3 in the heat of the Texas summer and they were the coolest shoes I have worn in the past 5 years. I could feel a cooling breeze around my foot when the wind was blowing and never experienced a hot spot or heat related discomfort. Great ventilation.

–sole durability: Sole durability was another of my biggest concerns before starting the play test as I some issues with the Jet 2‘s sole going away quickly during that play test. Thankfully, sole durability was a non issue for me on the SFX 3. At the end of the play test, I could tell that the shoes had been worn, but there was plenty of sole remaining across the entire shoe. No noticible wear marks, no balding areas, and no damage. The sole held up better than my Gel Res 7’s over a similar time frame so I would suspect I would get greater longevity out of the SFX 3 over an extended period of time.

–toe durability: I am not a big toe dragger, so I have never had an issue in any of the shoes I have worn. There appears to be adequate protection through out the toe area and there were only a couple of streaks on my toe caps from where I had impacted the court, but it was more of a discoloration with no visible signs of wear or damage.

–traction: The SFX 3’s traction was phenomenal. On hard courts, it was almost too grippy for my tastes out of the box, but that improved a bit after my first hard court session. Once I got that initial layer of rubber scuffed in, the traction felt better/more like I am used to in my other tennis shoes. The SFX 3 does have more hard court traction than my normal Gel Res 7’s, but after several sessions I am starting to think that was a by product of the flexibility in the sole which allowed me to feel the court more than I have in most other shoes. The only shoes I have worn that had more court feel were the Adidas Ubersonics, but they were too extreme on that end of the spectrum. Even when I had a session in the Barn which has notoriously slippery and fast hard courts, the SFX 3 never lost the grip level or traction that I desired. I was also a little concerned about the traction level on Har Tru clay prior to the play test, but the SFX 3 has surprising good traction on the clay. I normally wear dedicated clay sole shoes on Har Tru and the SFX 3 was almost as good as those shoes through out the play test. I never experienced a slip or loss of traction on the clay with the SFX 3 and their traction level was better than any other all court sole I have worn on clay. As they run cooler than my normal clay shoes, the SFX 3 may become my go to clay shoe when the temps are tickling triple digits.

–weight: The SFX 3’s felt incredibly light and speedy on my feet. The only shoe I have worn that felt lighter were the Ubersonics. Compared to the first gen SFX, they are incredibly light. I would consider them light enough to be a match day shoe.

General reaction/comments on overall performance: What a great shoe. I would like to give kudos to Babolat for transforming the original SFX into the shoe that has become the SFX 3. They improved all of the short comings and issues of the original shoe and produced a superior shoe. Beyond the obvious changes, they paid attention to small details to improve the shoe. My first Gen SFX shoes died when one of the shoe’s eyelets that were just a hole punch through the material broke through and gave way. On the SFX 3, they have a true eyelet with a reinforced ring of a stronger material to resist such issues. The lacing system is another improvement which allows an even more adaptive fit so that the consumer can adjust the fit/stability of the shoe to help increase comfort and support. As the shoe material stretched a bit after my initial session, I was able to adjust the fit of the SFX 3 so that I could take the court fully supported and in total comfort.

The Babolat SFX 3 is going to stay in my rotation of shoes which includes several pairs of Gel Res 7’s and some Diadora clay shoes. As shoes require replacing, the SFX 3 will be a top contender to be the replacement.