Mike Guillory got to a court in Texas at 6:51 in the morning, before work, in humidity he described as roughly 150 percent, to test a pair of shoes that had arrived two days earlier. He had not worn them yet. He played in them cold, and that turned out to be the point.
THE ROGER Pro 3 is On’s hardcourt flagship, $220, out since April 21. The headline change from the Pro 2 is a foam with a name. The Pro 2 ran an unnamed midsole. The Pro 3 uses Helion HF hyper foam, the first time On has put that material in a tennis shoe, and it is the same family the brand runs in its running line.
The part that matters on court
Tennis shoes usually need breaking in. Rigid cages, stiff plates, dense rubber, the whole build fights your foot for a few sessions before it gives. Mike put these on for the first time and played, and says they felt broken in immediately. Bouncy, springy, comfortable from the first step.
That is worth more than it sounds for anyone who does not get to a court every week. If you play twice a month, a shoe that demands five sessions of break-in never actually breaks in.
Under the foam sits the carbon fiber Speedboard, which the Roger Pro line has always carried, now paired with a new heel clip. It runs through the midfoot for energy return and torsional resistance. The outsole is a modified herringbone tuned for hardcourt, and Mike’s read on it is that it looks like a low-profile performance tire, shallow overall with deep grooves cut into it. It gripped and it did not slip.
What changed up top
The Pro 2 used a translucent abrasion-resistant mesh that yellowed and looked dingy over time. The Pro 3 goes back to a solid engineered mesh, which holds up better cosmetically. Across the toe box there is a thick fused panel that wraps to the medial side and runs up into the lacing, the standard defense against toe drag, and Mike says you cannot feel it against your foot.
The bigger fix is width. The Pro 2 drew complaints for squeezing, mostly from the rubber containment along the lateral side. On softened that piece on the Pro 3. It is more malleable and less inclined to press into the side of your foot, which makes the shoe friendlier to wide feet without changing what it does.
The tongue is unchanged, a mesh that feels like neoprene with a pull tab that makes entry easy, carrying On and Roger Federer branding. The lacing mixes interior and top-lace options so you can lock the foot down two ways.
Sizing and colorways
True to size. If you have wide feet, try a pair on, and if you cannot, half a size up will not hurt. On’s tennis shoes run narrower than its runners, so do not assume your Cloud size carries over.
THE ROGER Pro 3 is $220 and currently comes in Glacier and Celeste, Black and Ash, Linen and Lime, White and Ash, and Brook and Neem. There is a clay-court version as well. The all-white pair is the one you see at Wimbledon, where the dress code requires it.
For more, see our On coverage.
-->
