Serena Williams' husband thanks her sponsor for sending matching Jordans for their family
During her almost 25-year career, Serena Williams won many titles and became an ambassador for numerous brands across the world. Yet her association with Nike is arguably her longest, going back to her early days as a player.
Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recently took to Twitter to share a picture of the matching Jordans he and his family received as a gift from the iconic sports brand.
"Thanks, @Nike," Ohanian captioned the post.
Thanks @Nike https://t.co/mvGuNcFpBn
"She is larger than life" - Nike Design Director Wilson Smith on Serena Williams
Nike Design Director Wilson Smith recently recalled designing boots for Serena Williams to wear at the 2004 US Open.
"One of my favorite stories that I can think of was working with Serena, and Serena is amazing," Smith said. "I was watching her shoes, she was always wearing boots, so I said, 'What do you think about a tennis boot?' She's like, 'Oh I love the tennis boot', and she signed up. So, I created these boots and it was really fun, they kind of had a spat on top."
Although many people thought the boots were "over the top," Williams wore them during her warm-up before matches. Interestingly, Smith revealed that most of the pictures taken of the tennis legend during the tournament were from her warm-ups rather than her matches.
"So, Serena wears these boots at the US Open and she comes out there in 2004. 2004 US Open, she's wearing these boots, the cameras are flashing like she's on a Paris runway. That night, they told me at the US Open, 'Hey, we don't want her wearing those boots, that's like, too much, too over the top.' I say, 'Okay it's cool, we just wanted her to warm-up anyway."
"So, she wore em, she zipped them off after the warm-ups, she went on and crushed her opponent, it was a great night. The next day, USA Today, was a big picture on the front page on the upper left hand corner with the boots. And the amazing thing was all the images which were taken during the tournament were all taken during the warm-ups. She never warmed during the match and it showed how Serena pushes beyond the edge of the game itself. She is an influencer but she is larger than life. That's one of my fun stories," he added.