7 Best Women's Tennis Shoes in 2024

How to choose the best women’s tennis shoe

Here is a simple way to tell if you bought the right pair of tennis shoes: You forget about shoes and keep your focus on the court.

If you experience a lack of grip, cushioning, or support, feel dragged down by the shoe, or develop hot spots, you need a better shoe.

Here are five important things to consider in your next pair of tennis shoes:

1. Court surface
2. Shoe design for your playing style
3. Shoe durability
4. Shoe breathability
5. Size and fit

Not to mention colour and appearance! Studies show that about 20% of female players had difficulty purchasing sports shoes with their desired aesthetics compared to only 10% of male participants.

1. Women’s tennis shoes by court surface

Most tennis shoes for women are released in hard court (HC) and all court (AC) versions. Indoor tennis shoes are also quite common with the rise of squash, padel, and pickleball. Clay court (CC) shoes are less available in the US due to the dominance of hard courts.

If in doubt, get an AC shoe because it is appropriate for a mix of surfaces.

Avoid wearing HC shoes on clay courts because they don’t have the aggressive herringbone traction pattern needed for this surface.

Avoid wearing HC shoes indoors because they don’t have the same tacky grip on smooth wooden floors as indoor shoes and can leave black marks.

2. Your playing style determines the best tennis shoe

Tennis shoes can be roughly divided into three categories based on the playing style they match - speed, cushioning, and stability. But please keep in mind that tennis shoes evolve and you may find shoes that are both light and stable or both well-cushioned and supportive. This classification is meant to provide some initial guidelines for beginner players.

The average weight of tennis shoes we tested in the lab hovers around 12.8 oz (360g). The speed-oriented category normally includes the lightest tennis shoes and averages 12.3 oz (350g). And if you fancy the lightest footwear, several women’s tennis shoes weigh as little as 10 oz (285g).

For consistency, we weigh all tennis shoes in the same size - men’s US 9 (D medium width). This corresponds to the women’s US 10.5 in most popular athletic shoe brands.

To let you know exactly how much cushioning to expect, we cut all tennis shoes in half and measure both forefoot and heel stack precisely at 25% and 75% of the midsole (following the World Athletics guidelines)

We also rely on a Shore A durometer to measure the softness of each shoe’s cushioning foam. And if it’s made of more than one type of foam, we measure each layer to see if there is any difference in their densities.

The lower the HA reading, the softer the foam. But because they have to provide a planted and stable base, tennis shoes rarely have very soft cushioning. We usually see balanced (20-30 HA) or firm (30-40 HA) foams in this category.

Based on our extensive database, cushioned tennis shoes typically have the following characteristics:

• heel stack of 28-30 mm or more
• forefoot stack of 20 mm or more
• balanced midsole softness within 20-30 HA

The most stable and supportive of tennis shoes, these options provide maximum surefootedness on the court. Ladies with very aggressive side-to-side movements should go straight to this bunch.

These shoes are easy to tell apart from the rest because of the large and stout TPU reinforcements on the sides (lateral side in particular). There is a good reason why a popular stability shoe from Adidas is called “the barricade.” These stabilising components indeed feel like walls that don’t let the foot spill and roll over the shoe edge during sharp cuts.

Aside from these “walls,” other telltale signs of a highly supportive tennis shoe include:

• high torsional rigidity (hard or impossible to twist the shoe)
• stiff and padded heel counter (holds the heel and ankle very securely in place)
• wide midsole (with a large forefoot flange creates a large landing and push-off area)

3. How much durability to look for in a court shoe

This is particularly important if your playing style involves a lot of sliding and you blow through your shoes very quickly.

Looking at the medial side of the shoe’s forefoot, you will see various degrees of protection - from a small rubber add-on to a full-ledged TPU cage covering the entire toebox and even the eyelets.

In our lab, we test how much abrasion each tennis shoe can handle using sandpaper and a Dremel. In addition to testing the shoe’s toe drag guard, we also test its upper fabric, inner heel lining, and outsole.

Depending on the shoe part, we apply the Dremel for 4, 12, or 22 seconds, at a speed of 5K or 10K RPM. The pressure remains consistent at 3.2N in all four tests.

Based on these durability tests, we can pick out the sturdiest tennis shoes for women:

You might think that higher durability always comes with a heavier price tag but that’s not always the case! Some shoes hit a perfect balance between a solid lifespan and a reasonable price point.

Here is the overview of the most durable women’s tennis shoes in our catalogue along with their retail price.

4. Consider breathability as well

Breathability becomes increasingly important as the summer season approaches.

Some tennis shoes focus on stability and durability so much that they sacrifice the necessary heat and moisture regulation.

We perform several breathability tests to keep you in the loop about which tennis shoes have sufficient ventilation capacity. In one of them, we pump smoke into the shoe’s upper and take note of how quickly and effortlessly it escapes through the toebox.

Other tests include:

• hovering half of the shoe’s upper over the LED light to search for additional ventilation holes
• taking a closer look at the material through a microscope

At the end of the testing process, we rate each shoe’s breathability on a 1-5 scale (5 is the most breathable).

If you want proper in-shoe temperature, moisture, and odour control, we recommend getting a women’s tennis shoe with a breathability score of 3 or higher.

5. Size and fit can make or break the best women’s tennis shoes

No matter how many wonderful features your tennis shoe packs, you won’t be able to enjoy them all if the size and fit are off.

Size: First of all, make sure that there is enough shoe length for your foot. That means your longest toe is not touching the upper.

We strongly recommend measuring your foot length precisely before ordering the shoe in the following cases:

• you are buying the first-ever tennis shoe
• you are buying a tennis shoe from a different brand
• it’s been years since you last measured your foot dimensions (yes, our feet continue to change and grow even in adult, especially during pregnancy)

Then open the corresponding size chart from the brand and check which women’s size you should order. TIP: If the online shop offers free returns, you may want to order two pairs with a half-size difference and see which one fits best.

Fit: The internal space of a tennis shoe must cater to your foot shape as well. But if you don’t know whether you fall into the category of narrow, medium, or wide feet, you can take a look at the detailed width chart offered by New Balance as a starting point.

Once you have a better idea of your foot width, here are some guidelines and shoe recommendations for each type of women’s feet:

If you have narrow feet, consider slimmer, more streamlined shoes with pointier toeboxes.

If you have medium-width feet, go for standard or slightly rounded toebox shapes.

If you have wide feet or bunions, choose one of the following:

• a medium-width shoe with a wide and rounded toebox (see the table below)
• a wide or extra-wide width alternative (ASICS and New Balance are most known for offering alternative widths)
• a corresponding* men’s shoe in a D (medium) or 2E (wide) width

*the corresponding size usually implies going 1.5 US size down from your women’s size but please consult the brand size chart