K-Swiss Is Named the ATP Tour's Official Footwear Partner

The California-based brand signed a multi-year deal with the ATP while celebrating its 60th anniversary.

K-SWISS and the ATP sign a three year partnership deal. | Courtesy of K-SWISS

K-Swiss, the California-based heritage tennis footwear brand, is expanding its tennis portfolio with a new venture as the ATP Tour's official footwear.

A Three-Year Partnership

The three-year partnership will see K-Swiss provide footwear to ATP umpires, physios, and key officials in addition to creating a collection of five ATP-branded tennis shoes, which will be sold globally through K-Swiss and the ATP's online retail store. Additional pop-ups will be seen at ATP tournaments such as Madrid and Rome as well as tennis specialty stores.

"We're really leaning into tennis in a much bigger way," Barney Waters, K-Swiss brand president, spoke with Serve of the partnership. "Number one, we're really [locking] in that foundation of K-Swiss as a tennis brand. Secondly is sort of the popularity of tennis is really high right now...it's a really great time for tennis brands right now because of the energy around tennis."

ATP Baseline Program Partnership

K-Swiss footwear will be provided to any player in the top 250 without a current footwear sponsor through the ATP Baseline program, a financial security initiative launched by the tour to support professional players on the men's circuit. The brand already has partnerships with several prominent players on tour, including Andrey Rublev, Tomás Martín Etcheverry, Thiago Agustín Tirante, and Zhizhen Zhang.

"By having a professional athlete roster, not only is it the ideal platform for establishing brand awareness of tennis and credibility, two big factors in why athletes wear our shoes, but also it gives us the absolute best testing ground to make sure that we are at the top of our game," Waters said. "You cannot deliver a product that doesn't perform perfectly when we're putting it on a professional athlete who's playing in a major."

K-SWISS and the ATP finalized the deal at the footwear brand's 60th anniversary party. | Courtesy of K-SWISS

Announcement at NYC Anniversary Party

The deal was finalized at K-Swiss' 60th anniversary party in New York City prior to the start of the US Open, with ATP CEO Eno Polo signing the official contract with K-Swiss Chairman Ding Shui Po. "Leaning into tennis is about differentiation," Waters said. "The more focused you can be, and the more clear your brand can be defined, the more you have an opportunity to gain some share and have a place in a very competitive crowded market."

While K-Swiss has increasingly leaned into tennis-inspired lifestyle clothing, its focus remains rooted in footwear. In its 60 years of existence, the brand has evolved from the original leather tennis shoe first introduced in 1966 to the new Hypercourt Supreme 3, designed by global brands design director Min Joong Kim.

K-Swiss' UltraShot 4 Model

Kim is also responsible for the UltraShot 4, which he describes as the brand's "pinnacle model," and the K-Frame Speed Rublo, Rublev's "signature model." The UltraShot 4 is confirmed by Waters to be worn by Etcheverry and Frances Tiafoe while other pros will be wearing the Hypercourt Pinnacle, which will feature a carbon plate.

"[It's] made for lateral movement in tennis," Kim told Serve at the K-Swiss House. "Carbon fiber plates is used a lot in the shoes for running these days...we engineered it so that its made for side-to-side movement."

Andrey Rublev attends K-SWISS' 60th anniversary party in New York City. | Courtesy of K-SWISS

Building Trust with Pro Players

Players' shoes for the new season are often introduced towards the end of the current season, although the brand takes the time to meet with the players long before that in Indian Wells to get players used to the idea of new product. Major tournaments throughout the year serve as steps in the development process so players can give feedback and test out the shoe.

"The most important thing is building trust with a product," Kim said. "When we introduce the new model, [the players] are often hesitant to move on to the new one because they're in love with the old one, so we have to give them time...we can actually fine tune the product based on everyone's need."

K-Swiss is set to introduce its footwear alongside its capsule collection on tour beginning in early 2027. The rollout will include a series of retail and marketing initiatives to increase the brand's visibility amongst tennis fans, particularly in countries where K-Swiss isn’t as prominent.

"It's a statement of intent from our standpoint that we're partnering with an organization as important and as integral into the culture of tennis and the game of tennis as the ATP," Waters said. "We're doubling down on our position as a tennis brand, and it's a sign of us sort of growing and investing in our business overall."