I love ASICS tennis shoes and have bought at least 6 pairs in the last 5 years but the last 2 pairs have let me down as the laces are noticeably shorter which makes it difficult to tie the boot . My guess is that the company decided to make a little more profit and reduced the size and hence price of the laces. This profit-maximizing measure may end up costing them more because, for one thing, I'll be looking elsewhere for shoes in the future.