KSwiss Hypercourt Supreme Men's Shoe Review

Comfort - Score: 4.2

As with many of the KSwiss shoes our team has reviewed, the Hypercourt Supremes provided good all-around comfort. For players with narrow feet, however, KSwiss shoes typically fit slightly too wide. Chris, our playtester with the narrowest feet, explained, "The KSwiss Hypercourt Supremes offered a very comfortable ride. Break-in for me was minimal to none, and I was able to go straight to the court and play on my first wear. I liked the amount of cushioning the shoes offered. My feet and joints felt protected from the courts, with no aches and pains during or following my practices. The fit was a bit wide for my skinny feet, so I had some sliding around inside the shoes despite wearing two pairs of socks. Fortunately, I had no blister issues, but these are not shoes I would wear for a long practice or match since I could feel the bottoms of my feet getting rubbed from moving around inside the shoes."

Troy also has slightly narrow feet, but he was pleased with the overall comfort level these shoes offered. He said, "KSwiss tennis shoes usually carry a reputation for high-level comfort. That said, they're often too wide for my feet and can cause some toe jamming. I found the comfort level of the Hpercourt Supremes to be very impressive. I will say that the fit opened up a bit after about two weeks of wear, and they started feeling slightly wide, but the comfort was great otherwise. I never really experienced any toe jamming like I did with the Bigshot Light 3. I really liked the addition of the bootie construction, and there was enough midsole cushioning considering how lightweight these shoes felt. Ventilation was average — not too hot but not very breathable either."

Like Troy, Mark's shoes opened up width-wise toward the end of the playtest, but the comfort remained very good for him. He said, "I have come to expect both a high degree of comfort and decent width from KSwiss tennis shoes. After wearing them for 25-plus hours in rather hot weather on hard courts, the Hypercourt Supremes reinforced, if not enhanced, that reputation. The combination of the midsole, upper materials and arch provided me with plenty of comfort and breathability without sacrificing anything in the way of support. The arch height felt a little low for my high arches, but I never once gave it any thought during or after play. The fit for these Hypercourt Supremes was nearly perfect for my feet, and although the upper did stretch out after several hours of play, an extra tug on the laces maintained a snug fit, session after session."

Jason found the fit to work well for his wider feet. He described, "Like with the KSwiss Hypercourt Express 2, the fit was good for my foot shape. Even if it's a little narrower in the toe box, it did open up as time went on. The Supreme is not as well cushioned as the Express 2, but it does provide a lower to the ground feel. Even though it isn't as plush, I would not consider the Supreme's cushioning to be too minimal by any means, and there was enough padding under my feet to absorb hard landings."

Foot Support/Stability - Score: 4.3

In an effort to provide top-notch support and stability, KSwiss crafted the Hypercourt Supreme's uppers from Durawrap Flex and gave the shoe a bootie fit. Mark was impressed, and he found these lightweight shoes to perform better than he expected in this category. He explained, "I consider a men's tennis shoe weighing less than 14 ounces to be light, and at that point, I am skeptical about lateral stability and support. At a scant 13.1 ounces (size 10.5), these KSwiss Hypercourt Supremes definitely qualify as lightweight, and I would say they provide a level of support that is typically reserved for heavier, bulkier tennis shoes."

When it came to support and stability, Jason thought these shoes lived up to their name. He said, "This is where there I saw a noticeable improvement over the Hypercourt Express 2. These Hypercourt Supremes are more responsive and my feet rode lower to the ground, and the uppers feel more supportive. I felt like I could cinch up the laces and really lock down my feet. I experienced no issues with support and stability when moving forward or side to side."

Troy found the Hypercourt Supreme's stability to be good given the shoe's weight, but he did notice that the fit opened up over time. He said, "For shoes coming in at 13.1 ounces fully laced, I thought the support and stability were fairly impressive. I felt like the midfoot shank provided enough rigidity to help stabilize my movement, especially under extreme forces. My only knock was that the uppers were fairly pliable, and the fit opened up a bit after a few weeks of wear. At this point, I had to wear really thick socks or double up on them to get the snug fit that I enjoy."

Like Troy, Chris also thought these shoes offered a stable ride, but in the end, they were too wide to make him feel secure. He described, "I found these Hypercourt Supremes to be very stable. The shoes flexed in all the right places yet offered good resistance to lateral twisting. The upper materials also felt like they had the potential to provide some nice support since I never felt any excessive stretching. However, the wide fit had me sliding around inside the shoes too much to feel locked in."

Overall Sole Durability - Score: 4.1

Tried and true, the Aosta 7 rubber outsole on the Hypercourt Supremes withstood the abuse of hard-court play. Mark is known for putting a lot of miles on his tennis shoes, and he said, "I had close to 30 hours of play in these Hypercourt Supremes by the end of the playtest. Although the outsole's tread pattern became smooth around the balls of my feet and beneath my toes, I have not worn through the rubber to the midsole yet. For the weight of these shoes, this was rather impressive."

Jason was pretty impressed as well. He added, "These shoes appeared to be very durable. I was impressed with how little the outsole wore down through 15 or so hours of testing."

Chris noted both the outsole and toe durability, saying, "The outsoles on the Hypercourt Supremes held up very well for me. I barely see any wear, even in the areas where I usually blow through shoes. Likewise, the uppers held up very well. I drag to the top of the toe box on both shoes when playing, and the upper materials took all the abuse I gave them with no significant wear."

According to Troy, the Hypercourt Supreme's durability was decent, but for such a high performing shoe, he was hoping it would be backed by a guarantee. He explained, "I found the overall durability to be slightly above average considering the weight of these shoes. After my initial inspection of these shoes, it seemed that the rubber outsoles were relatively minimal. But after wearing them for about 15 hours, I realized that KSwiss did a good job of protecting the high-wear areas while reducing material on the rest of the outsole. The outsoles showed a bit of balding under the balls of my feet, but the toe region held up fairly well. The downside for me is that these shoes aren't backed by a durability guarantee."

Traction - Score: 4.3

The Hypercourt Supreme's slightly grippy traction received mostly positive marks from our team. Jason was the one playtester who wanted more give from the outsoles. He said, "I thought the outsoles were fairly tacky. I had no issues with slippage when going for a shot, but I would've liked a slicker outsole to slide in and out of my shots easier."

Mark thought the traction settled in rather quickly. He said, "For the first 30 minutes of play, the level of traction for these Hypercourt Supremes was a little on the sticky side. The outsoles felt dialed-in after that, with the proper blend of grip versus slip."

"I noticed that traction was strong during my initial hitting sessions," Troy added. "There was a lot of grip when I needed to plant my outside foot and change directions on our indoor hard court. I felt as though I could stop aggressively and push off with maximum force toward the next shot. After roughly five hours of wear, I found the top layer of the rubber to chafe and smooth out a bit. This gave me a slightly less grippy feel from the rubber and a little more give when I came to a quick stop. I actually preferred the level of traction after the break-in. I am not much of a hard court slider, but after the break-in I could see how these shoes could be a good choice for players who are, like Marcos Giron."

Chris was pleased overall with the traction. He said, "I was able to move, cut and sprint to the best of my ability in the Hypercourt Supremes. I started to trust the traction on my first hit, and it held true throughout the test. I also felt like there was enough give from the outsoles to allow me to pivot easily. I never felt stuck in place or had the sense of stumbling from too much grip when playing in the Hypercourt Supremes."

Weight - Score: 4.2

The Hypercourt Supremes did a good job of blending a lightweight feel with other performance features. Troy really liked the bootie construction and thought it added to the shoe's speedy feel. He said, "These shoes felt light and made it easy for me to transition my feet when moving around the court. While the Hypercourt Express 2s are slightly lighter than the Hypercourt Supremes on the scale, the Supremes actually felt lighter and more streamlined to me while playing. I think the bootie construction provided a slightly more glove-like fit and just made these Hypercourt Supremes feel light and fast. I also noted that the uppers on these shoes flexed much better with my feet compared to the Bigshot Light 3s, which made for a speedier feel and more comfort overall."

These Hypercourt Supremes may not have been the lightest shoes Chris has tested over the years, but he found them to feel relatively speedy. He described, "While not feeling like super lightweight shoes, the Hypercourt Supremes felt fast on court. I think movement in the shoes would have felt even more natural had I found a better fit. Still, even though I was moving around inside the shoes, I still felt pretty light on my feet."

Jason found the shoes to feel exactly as light as they needed to be. He said, "These shoes feel lighter than their static weight would suggest, which is great. The low-to-the-ground ride and seamless heel-to-toe transition definitely helped with that lighter sensation. These Hypercourt Supremes are not in the upper echelon of lightweight shoes, but I don't think they need to be; they feel plenty lightweight as is."

As he expected, Mark felt quick around the court in these shoes. He said, "When I see a sub-13.5-ounce weight for a tennis shoe, I expect to feel light and speedy wearing them on court, which is precisely how I felt playing in these Hypercourt Supremes. With such light shoes, I am more concerned with stability, and as I mentioned above, I never felt like I sacrificed support or stability."

Overall - Score: 4.3