Mizuno Wave Exceed Tour 7 Men's Shoe Review

Although the Mizuno Wave Exceed Tour 7s are on the lighter end of the performance shoe spectrum and have a relatively low profile, they provided impressive comfort and cushioning underfoot even after extended hours of play. Troy found plenty of comfort in his pair of Wave Exceed Tour 7s, praising in particular the noticeable improvement to their ankle and tongue. He explained, "As I have experienced with previous versions that I have tested, the comfort was very good for me in this seventh edition of the Wave Exceed Tour. The ankle collar had some nice padding to it, and the slightly longer tongue made it feel more comfortable when I cinched the laces tightly. The upper material was very lightweight and flexible, so I never had any unwanted rubbing or pinching. I found the underfoot cushioning to be pretty good considering their lightweight nature. The Wave Exceed Tour 7s felt nice going right from the box and onto the court, but I will mention that after about a month of wear, it felt like the foam was compressing and was less responsive."

Though perhaps not quite as smooth of a ride overall for Mark, he still found adequate comfort and a good fit for his feet. He noted, "The Wave Exceed Tour 7s’ width and slightly low arch support was great for my medium width, high arch feet. As always, there is a trade-off between shoes being speedy and lightweight versus a high degree of upper and midsole cushioning. That said, the Wave Exceed Tour 7s were definitely well-ventilated, fast-feeling shoes. The cushioning was sufficient but not outstanding."

Jason felt that the Wave Exceed Tour 7s maintained the substantial comfort (given their lower weight) from the previous version, but this generation in particular had an improved tongue. He said, "For speed-oriented shoes, I've always been impressed with the level of cushioning the Wave Exceeds provide. With the previous model there was one issue I didn't like, which was the extremely thin and short tongue, but that issue has been addressed with this update! I am happy to report that the tongue is now more padded and standard length!"

For Chris, the comfort underfoot was good from the get-go and lasted the duration of the playtest. He said, "I found the Wave Exceed Tour 7s to be very comfortable from the very first wear. The shoes barely required a break-in, and I was sprinting around in them comfortably on my first outing. The underfoot cushioning looks minimal, but I found it to offer ample comfort while still having me feeling very connected to the court. I liked the way the shoes flexed and moved with my feet. I never had any uncomfortable rubbing or pinching from them even during longer hitting sessions. My arches felt nice and supported, and I also liked the level of ventilation the shoes offered."

The lateral stability of the Wave Exceed Tour 7s is where these shoes really started to make a name for themselves. Chris was able to go after any ball he liked, and he even incorporated some hard court sliding into his game. He explained, "I found a very confidence-inspiring ride in the Wave Exceed Tour 7s. I felt very low to the ground and also felt like I was sitting deep inside the shoes rather than feeling like I was on top of thick midsoles. I'm not a big hard court slider, but I did find myself trusting these shoes to let me slide out of a shot. They held my feet nicely when I came to a quick stop, so I didn’t have any uncomfortable toe jamming."

Jason found outstanding stability and support from the Wave Exceed Tour 7s, but he would have preferred a more rigid upper. He said, "I thought the stability was really solid, especially for such lightweight shoes, and I was moving side to side with zero issues during the playtest. If I could tweak one thing, I'd probably make the upper just a tiny bit more rigid for increased stability when moving side to side. As for support, I didn't notice my feet sliding around when I was sprinting forward and stopping so no issues there at all."

Troy had some concerns with the lack of arch support and the less than ideal locked-down feel. He said, "I enjoyed the fit of these shoes, and they held my feet like gloves when I cinched them up tightly. I also have slightly narrow feet, so the fit of these shoes was pretty spot on. The overall feel is light and flexible, and I noticed a lack of support underneath my arches right from the get-go. I ended up adding some plantar fascia supports, which added a bit of support and rigidity. Other than that little quick fix, I found the support to be decent. Lateral stability was also somewhat average. I felt like I was moving well in these shoes, but I didn't have that real secure, locked-in type of feel that I get from more stability-focused shoes."

The support and stability proved highly reliable from start to finish for Mark, letting him trust his movements from any area of the court. He said, “I’m not too surprised when lightweight shoes provide good comfort and breathability or if they are supportive when they are still relatively new. As an older player, I rely more on upper support than outsole durability because most often the upper of a lightweight tennis shoe bags out on me before I wear through the outsole. After more than 40 hours of testing, I am thrilled to report that my pair of Wave Exceed Tour 7s have yet to show any major decline in stability or support."

One of the more remarkable aspects of the Wave Exceed Tour 7s is that they’re some of the lightest shoes we carry that come with a six-month outsole guarantee. On top of that, they proved quite durable throughout the playtest. For Mark, the durability beat out a lot of other lightweight performance shoes, and he noted the outsole guarantee as a big upside. He said, "The outsole durability of the Wave Exceed Tour 7s is better than average, especially compared to most other lightweight tennis shoes I have played in. If I then factor in the outsole warranty, I will say the durability is better than average times two!"

Both the uppers and the outsoles retained their functionality well for Troy, especially taking into account their lack of weight. He noted, "The outsoles held up pretty well considering the lightweight design of these shoes. I had a bit of wear under the balls of my feet but nothing that was a major issue. The toe rubber held up for me, but I’m not a huge toe dragger so take that with a grain of salt. The uppers felt light and flexible and surprisingly didn't show much wear. Then again, I’m not turning my feet over on the medial side and dragging them like you will see from a lot of hard-court sliders."

While Jason wouldn't go so far as to classify the Wave Exceed Tour 7s as outright durable shoes compared to traditional durability options, he found them to be impressively long-lasting for a lighter, speed-oriented pair of court shoes. He said, "Are they super durable tennis shoes? No. But are they durable for speed-oriented shoes? Absolutely. What's even more impressive is that shoes weighing under 13 ounces actually come with a durability guarantee."

Chris had a similar experience, adding, "For being such fast-feeling shoes I was impressed by how well the Wave Exceed Tour 7s held up. The uppers held up very well against my toe-dragging tendencies, though the outsoles showed more wear. I smoothed the outsole under the big toe of my right foot and also saw some wear on the lateral edges of the shoes. However, the wear was in line with what I'd expect after 15-20 hours of play."

Traction proved to be an area where some of our testers had some issues with the Mizuno Wave Exceed Tour 7s. The traction of the actual outsole itself proved extremely viable for the majority of maneuvers around the court, but a couple of testers, including Chris, had issues with the midfoot TPU piece. He explained, "I found plenty of grip from the Wave Exceed Tour 7s for the most part. I did occasionally compress the shoes enough that the hard TPU midfoot shank would contact the court. Since the shank is made from a hard and slippery material, it did cause some momentary loss of traction from time to time. In each instance I was able to recover, but the feeling was disconcerting. I also wore the Wave Exceed Tour 7s on an omni court, and I found the regular all court outsoles to offer excellent traction on that surface."

Jason felt like the traction of the Wave Exceed Tour 7s put him in that ideal realm of being able to stop and start seamlessly. He said, "I really liked the traction from the Wave Exceed Tour 7s. We always talk about shoes having that great blend of grip and give, and that is exactly what I had with these shoes."

Mark was able to make the most out of his aggressive counterpunching style of movement while playing in the Wave Exceed Tour 7s. He said, "Due to the Wave Exceed Tour 7's above average support and stability, I was able to move pretty aggressively and test out their traction, which was maybe a little sticky for the first 10 minutes of play, but great from that point on. The quality of the traction basically remained the same after 40-plus hours of play."

Troy found the traction on his shoes to be practical, but he identified some key changes he'd like to see to the shank design. He explained, "I enjoyed the traction for the most part. The outsole rubber felt slightly on the sticky side, but the rubber broke in well. I feel like there was a bit of a design flaw with the midfoot shank. The plastic or TPU sat a little too low on the court, and it felt like that caused these shoes to slide or lose grip every now and then. Even though it would add a little bit of weight, I think that Mizuno should cover that plastic piece with rubber; this would give these shoes better overall traction and also create better court feel."

The Mizuno Wave Exceed Tour 7s are among the cream of the crop given their sub 13-ounce weight (size US men's 10.5) and high levels of performance. Although Troy appreciated the fast nature of the shoes, he felt like the shoes could potentially benefit from some additional material to improve their lateral stability and overall performance even more. He explained, "These not only feel light and fast, but they are still coming in under 13 ounces on the scale (size 10.5 US). They feel nice and speedy, and they also have a very flexible nature to the uppers, so movement in these shoes felt easy. With that said, maybe this has a lot to do with my preferences for my court shoes, but I would actually beef these shoes up a bit to give them a little more support and stability. I would add some rubber to the outsole to cover the shank plate, and also add some support features. These shoes shoes would still feel fast if they were closer to 14 ounces, but they’d have more functional speed and support."

Mark had no issues with the weight of his shoes. He said, "The weight of a tennis shoe is a factor, but it’s not really the first thing I consider. At around 13.4 ounces for my size 11, the Mizuno Wave Exceed Tour 7s felt very agile on court, and they also happen to be noticeably lighter than most other court shoes that claim to be lightweight."

Similarly, Chris found the Wave Exceed Tour 7s to be quite impressive elsewhere given how light they are. He said, "The Wave Exceed Tour 7s felt very light on my feet. I felt agile in the shoes and was able to get off to a quick start when chasing shots down. I was very happy with the support, durability and comfort that they offered, and I feel Mizuno has packed a lot of performance into these lightweight shoes."

Jason was more than happy with the weight (or lack thereof) of the Wave Exceed Tour 7s. He said, "I'm impressed with how much shoe Mizuno was able to cram into the Wave Exceed Tour 7 while still keeping the weight below 13 ounces."