FILA took a sleek approach to the creation of a brand-new performance tennis shoe offering, adding the FILA Mondo Forza to the brand’s lineup. And it all came thanks to some help from the FILA Futura Innovation Team.

“The Mondo Forza is meticulously crafted from the ground up,” says Luca Bertolino, global brand director at FILA. “In honor of our 50^th year in tennis, we wanted a design that was focused on the modern player, and dedicated to helping payers achieve even greater performance.”

Described as a shoe for an aggressive baseliner, the brand says the model strikes a balance between flexibility, support and style, adding that the Mondo Forza prioritizes traction and transition more than ever before, especially as the game continues to speed up.

The key to this traction focus is the brand’s split-surface outsole. The outside of the sole offers “significant surface contact to optimize the transition back into play, while the inside of the sole features a wave-bone pattern that gives players traction in multiple directions, allowing players to stop on command.”

With the shoe’s distinct traction pattern, the midsole also includes a first for FILA, a proprietary wood-based midstance plate for stability and response, intended to improve a player’s footwork on the court.

The underfoot technology comes wrapped in an upper with a design offering a fresh direction for the brand. While the primary focus was on-court performance, FILA says, the outcome was a shoe with a singular style, what the brand calls a minimalist and sleek approach. Citing the belief that tennis shoes have increasingly featured overbuilt components not contributing to the overall on-court performance, FILA says designers worked with the Futura Innovation Team to help hone the shoe to focus solely on the demands of the modern game, resulting in an “elegant” design crafted for the modern athlete.

The upper includes only the essentials, they claim, with a leno weave mesh upper designed for lightweight strength with breathability. The sock-like fit and upper construction also eliminates break-in time.

Bertolino says the Mondo Forza stays true to the “brand’s Italian heritage” with the aesthetic.

FILA’s performance tennis models currently feature the Axilus 2 and Speedserve lines. Launched in summer 2022, the Speedserve Energized built off the Axilus 2 Energized with a focus on court feel. The addition of the Mondo Forza creates a third key silhouette for the brand.

The shoe debuts for both men and women in two launch colorways: what the brand dubs a white alyssum-glacier grey-new wheat and a white-FILA navy-powder blue. The $160 sneaker will feature a third colorway releasing in 2024.

Already, a roster of FILA-sponsored athletes made the switch to the Mondo Forza, including Elli Mandlik, Soonwoo Kwon, Alexei Popyrin, Rinky Hijikata, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Reilly Opelka as he trains to return to the court following an injury layoff.