Roger Federer has been practicing with On tennis shoes in Doha. We have known for some time that Swiss shoe brand, On has been working on a tennis shoe. 

Roger Federer split with his longtime sponsor Nike and signed up with Uniqlo in 2018. But he continued to wear Nike shoes since Uniqlo doesn’t make tennis shoes. Federer reportedly paid for Nike shoes himself.

In  2019, Roger Federer became an investor in the Swiss shoe brand, On.  On and Federer have expressed interest in making tennis shoes. But building a good tennis shoe, especially one that Federer can wear on a tennis court,  is no easy task.

Federer returns to tennis this week in Doha after a long break from tennis. He underwent multiple knee surgeries and hasn’t played in almost a year. 

When Federer was asked about the On shoes in Doha. The shoes are still a prototype.

The break gave me time to make the project go forward. You cannot build a shoe overnight. I trained with On shoes here in Doha, let’s see if I’ll wear them on Tuesday (for the opening match). So far it looks perfect. It’s still a prototype. It’s exciting

– Roger Federer

We will find out on Tuesday if Federer takes the court with On shoes. The shoes seem further along in development than we had believed.