This tennis legend is a huge Michael Jordan fan. Before they would carve out their own path to greatness on the tennis court, they were watching MJ achieve it on the basketball court. Of course, since they were such huge fans of His Airness, they wore Air Jordans when they were kids and when they became Nike athletes. But little did they know that years later they would get a chance to work with Jordan Brand to create a special edition of their signature shoes but with elements taken from their favorite Js. It’s an honor that is reserved for people who can truly lay claim to being the GOAT of their field.
With that being said, was I talking about Serena Williams – who is now one major away from tying Margaret Court for the most singles tennis majors – or was I talking about Roger Federer – who just added to his already record major total by winning the Australian Open this past weekend against longtime rival Rafael Nadal – when it comes to tennis greats who now have at least tangentially, signature Jordan Brand shoes? The answer is both and once again Jordan Brand comes up on top like they always do.
In 2014, from seemingly out of nowhere, NikeCourt and Jordan Brand teamed up for the Zoom Vapor Tour AJ3, an amalgamation of Federer’s favorite signature shoe, the Nike Zoom Vapor Tour 9 and the greatest basketball shoe of all-time (IMHO), the Air Jordan 3. Decked out in the iconic White Cement colorway, the Vapor Tour AJ3 was the talk of the sneaker world and had sneakerheads actually tuning in to a first-round US Open tennis match just to catch a glimpse of the shoe and Michael Jordan, who was watching from the stands to show support for a fellow GOAT. Not that it needed it, but the Vapor Tour AJ3 in the White Cement colorway sold out in seconds and a few months later, a Black Cement colorway was met with similar love.
Not since Andre Agassi was on top of the world in Nike Air Tech Challenges have people paid attention to what’s on the feet of a tennis player. It spoke to the crossover appeal that MJ and Jordan Brand have that even though they are outsiders to the sport, they can come in and dominate the conversation like literally no one else in the world can. After that hurdle was passed, who was next in line? Enter Serena…
The synergy was just too good to pass up. In order to break her tie with Steffi Graf for most tennis majors in the Open Era, Serena Williams needed to get to 23. Considering her love for the Air Jordan 1 and how long lead times are for sneakers from concept to realization, Williams’ NikeCourt Flare in the Air Jordan 1 Banned colors had to have been in production for a while now. It was only a matter of time before Nike was going to be able to show them (and that beautiful box) to the world.
Over the next few weeks, we are going to be treated to two colorways of the NikeCourt Flare that pay homage to the Air Jordan 1 and then there will be an Air Jordan 1 with Serena’s logos. Obviously we live in a very different sneaker landscape compared to 2014, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these were some of the biggest releases of the year for Jordan Brand and it’s only January.
Greatness recognizes greatness is Jordan Brand’s strategy when it comes to sports that don’t involve a basketball. They’ve done it twice already with Federer and Serena in tennis, they teamed up with Neymar for a well-received Air Jordan 5 Low (which is an accomplishment in and of itself), and then there are obscene amount of cleated PEs official Jordan athletes like Dez Bryant, Dexter Fowler, and Keegan Bradley get in their respective sports. The only question now is, what’s next?
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