Before her championship wins—and ruffling a few feathers with her ‘catsuit’—tennis star Serena Williams was once just a kid rallying with her dad.
A new Nike ad takes us back through memory lane intercutting video clips of Williams at various U.S. Opentennis tournaments with footage of her, at nine years old, playing tennis with her father, Richard.
It’s almost as if she was hearing voice of her dad echoing throughout pivotal moments in her career including winning 23 Grand Slam competitions.
His encouragement of “This is you at the U.S. Open” is repeated throughout the ad. As the music begins welling up, viewers see Williams playing as an adult, as the voice of her father can be heard offering advice like, “good follow-through” or “switch to the backhand.”
There’s even a shot of her winning a rally at a competition with her father jumping up and down in the crowd.
The tagline ends with “It’s only crazy until you do it” and her dad saying, “very good, Serena Williams.”
Don’t call it a ‘comeback’
She tweeted the video Monday morning saying, "If you don’t dare to try and chase your dreams, you'll rob yourself the joy of doing it. Don't just dream it.#JustDoIt." The video, which was timed to coincide with Williams’ return to the U.S. Open, has already been viewed more than two million times on Twitter.
Last week, Chase also released an ad of her so-called “comeback” to tennis, but Williams doesn’t want to call it that.
In an Instagram post she wrote, “Lots of people have called this my “comeback.” But becoming a mom isn’t something I’m coming back from. It’s part of who I am. It’s been both incredibly amazing and incredibly tough, but it’s only made me stronger. Especially because of the love and support you’ve all shown me. I’ll be playing in the US Open for the first time since having Olympia and #ThisMama is gonna give it her all! @Chase”
So-called ‘catsuit’ bothered tennis officials
Most recently, her fashion choices rather than her skills, have been the buzz in the tennis world. The catsuit she wore at the French Open irked some officials. The suit was designed to cut down on blood clots after she gave birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, with her husband, Reddit entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, last year.
“I feel like a warrior in it, like a warrior-princess, kind of queen from Wakanda,” she said during a press conference. But French Open officials weren’t exactly feeling the same love for the form-fitting suit. The French Tennis Federation president Bernard Guidiclli drew a line, last week.
Serena Williams of the U.S. plays a shot against Germany's Julia Georges during their third round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, June 2, 2018. (AP / Christophe Ena)
“We’ve gone too far… [the catsuit] will no longer be accepted,” he said. “One must respect the game and place.”
Many called out the decision as sexist and even racist but Williams took the decision in stride. She said she spoke with Guidiclli saying he’s “been really amazing.”
“When it comes to fashion, you don’t want to be a repeat offender,” she joked.
