NikeCourt Zoom Vapor Cage 4 Rafa 'White Binary Blue Red'
Colorway: White/Binary Blue/Chile Red · Style code: DD1579-113 · Release date: August 29, 2021 · Price: $249 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Nike Zoom Vapor Cage 4 Rafa 'Black Metallic Silver' (DD1579-001) · NikeCourt Zoom Vapor Cage 4 Rafa 'Off Noir Volt' (DD1579-002) · NikeCourt Zoom Vapor Cage 4 Rafa 'Black Siren Red' (DD1579-003) · NikeCourt Zoom Vapor Cage 4 Rafa 'Lime Glow' (DD1579-100) · NikeCourt Zoom Vapor Cage 4 Rafa 'White Black' (DD1579-101)
Rafael Nadal's movement destroys shoes. He slides into shots on clay and hard courts alike, dragging the inside edge of the foot, and the wear pattern that produces is concentrated in places a normal tennis shoe does not reinforce. The Vapor Cage 4 Rafa is built around that problem specifically.
The outsole rubber wraps up over the midsole on the medial side rather than stopping at the edge, and the eyestays on that same side are covered so the laces are not the first thing to go. Testers have reported the shoe surviving eighty hours of court time with only a small hole worn through the sole, which is not a normal result in tennis footwear.
The rest is standard performance kit: a forefoot Zoom Air unit for responsiveness and a stiff lateral frame for side-to-side stability. This white, binary blue and red pair is dated to August 2021 at $150.