#PRESS_RELEASE: PUMA Tennis – A Heritage of Performance & Innovation

1985 saw PUMA sign a 17-year old German tennis player who went by the name of Boris Becker. What came next changed tennis forever, and has been part of PUMA folklore ever since. Becker became the youngest and first unseeded player ever to win Wimbledon. Resplendent in his signature PUMA mid tops and distinctive style of play Becker became bigger than the game itself. In 2015, PUMA celebrates the 30^th anniversary of this unprecedented win and the brand’s heritage of unmatched on-court glory and off-court style.

Since 1948, PUMA has played the game its way and never stopped its pursuit of pushing sport forward. As a result, the brand’s archive is packed with over 65 years of records and trophies.

PUMA entered the tennis world soon after the company was established and launched its first professional tennis shoe, the Match, in the 60s. Some Match shoes were perforated for breathability. All saw records tumble.

Throughout the 70s and 80s, PUMA unleashed a flurry of performance enhancing tennis shoes: all white leather, occasional coloured Formstrips. They were high quality, made in Europe, tough to replicate and worn by the best athletes including Guillermo Villas, Martina Navratilova and of course Boris Becker.

The products were exactly what players needed for grand slam level play. And they quickly put PUMA at the top of its game. PUMA designers were considering human factors that other companies weren’t thinking of yet. Their heightened awareness of ergonomics helped them pioneer a new approach to footwear that allowed PUMA athletes to outlast the competition.

This season, many styles filed under ‘firsts’ and ‘onlys’ are reissued. Some are altered. Some are authentic to a fault. The Match 74 is updated with added off-court appeal. Panels that were originally added to prevent players slipping on court now feature premium suede colour pops.

For SS’15 PUMA looks to its Tennis archive to inspire its future and celebrate the brand’s rich sports heritage of being Forever Faster.

The PUMA Tennis collection, available in-store from February, can be found at PUMA stores, Sportscene, Cross Trainer, Sneakers Bloemfontein and other selected retailers nationwide.

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