Nike has released an ad reshaping the story of two of tennis’ greatest ever players — who also happen to be sisters. Serena Williams and Venus Williams have in total, won 122 titles, 30 majors and spent 327 weeks in the #1 rank.
The ad was released in anticipation of the US Open which commenced on Monday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. Since they began playing as children, the sisters’ competitiveness against each other has been stirred in the media; a narrative that wets the public’s appetite for the ‘sibling riveraly’ tale.
But with this new ad, Nike wants to shift the story on the sisters’ relationship with each other as sisters.
“We were born sisters, but we’ve become each other’s biggest allies,” Venus’ voice speaks over footages in the ad. “For us, being sisters is everything. On and off the court, we’re each other’s biggest competitors, but we’re also each other’s biggest advocates. We are where we are today because we did this together.”
Since they broke out as players in 1990s, both Serena and Venus have transformed the game. They have also done extraordinary things for the global community; building schools in Jamaica, speaking out about the gender wage gap, and calling out police brutality and social injustice.
On the court, they have competed against each other in 31 matches — their most recent match against each other was in August at the WTA Top Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky.
The younger sister, Serena, has taken out 23 Grand Slam titles and stayed in the #1 ranking for a total of 316 weeks. Venus has won a total of seven and held the title of #1 for a total of 11 weeks. They are the only women in history to have played each other four consecutive times across the Grand slams; all four of which were taken out by Serena.
Serena has been promoting Nike since 2004, when she signed her first deal worth $40 million.