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Let your racquet and kicks do the talking.
Welcome to today’s Nice Kicks’ Throwback Thursday. Today, we once again revisit arguably the greatest sports and sneaker era, the ’90s. When one thinks of ’90s sports, one is immediately reminded of NBA hardwood greats Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, and Penny Hardaway; football’s Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders; and baseball’s Ken Griffey, Jr.
However, there was another sport – tennis – which catapulted onto the scene and into mainstream society in the late-’80s and early ’90s era by virtue of dynamic player personalities, loud and aggressive sports apparel and marketing campaigns, in addition to a timeless, epic rivalry for the ages between two of its greatest ambassadors: Agassi and Sampras.
While tennis arch-rival Andre Agassi dominates the majority of vintage sneaker and tennis culture conversations today, and perhaps rightfully so, Pete Sampras’ domination in the sport of tennis is nothing short of awesome. His resume is impressive and, until recently, had surpassed that of Roger Federer in terms of total Grand Slam Titles. Sampras was the clean-cut, conservative, tennis traditionalist Agassi never would be. Sampras epitomized country club tennis and wore sneakers that blended in and respected the rich history of the sport. Agassi, conversely, was the anti-hero, anti-country club, anti-establishment, a non-traditionalist, a rebel with a cause.
Sampras’ tennis game was clean, elegant, beautiful, precise, and flawless, and reflected his well-tempered style, calm demeanor, and personality. His signature move – the “jumpsmash” – a jumping volley at the net, impossible to return by opponents – ultimately became his trademark logo. While Sampras predominantly wore the Air Oscillate throughout his career with its trademark, low-profile Zoom Air cushioning, a silhouette designed by Tinker Hatfield, Sampras nonetheless opted for select Air Max tennis sneakers during the middle part of the decade including the 1994 Nike Air Max2 Sweep and 1995 Nike Air Max2 Spa.
This highly underrated vintage Air Max2 tennis model featured a dual-pressure chamber 25PSI+5PSI Max2 visible heel, encapsulated forefoot air sole unit, and a Durable Rubber Compound (DRC) outsole. Several colorways released which added a bit of flavor to an otherwise unremarkable template including white/deep emerald-dark charcoal, white/black-royal purple, and white/midnight navy-cabernet. Other players also wore Air Max2 Spa as well including David Wheaton and Greg Rusedski at Wimbledon in 1995 whose pairs featured a specially modified outsole made for grass courts.
While not the most memorable tennis sneaker, the Air Max2 Spa, particularly among vintage tennis circles, is a long-lost model that is unlikely to return to the tennis court. Wearing the Nike Air Max2 Spa won’t help you beat Pete Sampras, but at least you’ll look good in the process.
