Babolat SFX Evo All Court Wimbledon Limited Edition Women’s Tennis Shoes
Babolat SFX Evo All Court Wimbledon Limited Edition Women's Tennis Shoes
This one runs broad through the toes and comes in Wimbledon whites: an insole 20% deeper than standard, recycled mesh upper, Michelin rubber. I brought spare laces, obviously. Hobart comes before anything else, and I have packed for all four stops.
Four stops before the checkout
I have brought two pairs of these, which I realise sounds excessive until the day you need the second pair. The SFX Evo is Babolat's comfort shoe: a versatile all-court model with a deliberately generous forefoot, built for a strong or wide foot, and honestly also for anyone who has simply had enough of being pinched by a narrow speed shoe.
This is the Wimbledon limited edition, and the whole thing — right down to the laces — is styled as a vintage tribute to the London Grand Slam and to the earliest tennis shoes. It holds a wide foot comfortably for a very long time, which is a different and underrated skill.
It is not a stability model and it will not hold a violent sideways foot like the Propulse line.
My full inventory of it. The SFX last is cut for wider feet with substantial room through the forefoot; Babolat advise standard-width feet who want the comfort to take a half or a full size down, which is exactly the kind of instruction I write on a label and pack.
The upper combines soft mesh and breathable mesh, and the upper mesh is 100% recycled polyester.
The Ortholite insole is 20% thicker than the standard Babolat insole. Two lateral straps run beneath the upper with an external lateral reinforcement outside, so the shoe still supports you sideways. Pro Shield is a heavy moulded rubber guard over the inner forefoot and toes — the first thing to wear through on any shoe, which is why I always carry a spare.
The outsole is Michelin Original rubber, a composition with over 20 years of proving behind it. Colour: White/Grey.
Hobart is a city that rewards being prepared, because the weather there changes its mind constantly and everyone will tell you so and you should believe them. Constitution Dock has floating fish punts moored against the quay. Salamanca Place is a row of four-storey sandstone warehouses, and Kelly's Steps climb from there straight up to the colonial cottages of Battery Point.
Above all of it stands kunanyi/Mount Wellington, dolerite organ pipes below a 1,271 metre pinnacle, where it can be twenty degrees colder than the waterfront — I have brought the layers, and you should too.
You will get use out of these everywhere from those sandstone lanes to a hard court back home in the spring, and by the way, they are also perfect for a paper parcel of scallop pie eaten on the dock, which requires a napkin supply I have already accounted for.
"A 1,271 metre summit above a waterfront in shirtsleeves. Bring the coat you think you will not need."
