To celebrate the arrival of the U.S. Open in New York and introduce its newest NikeCourt apparel, Nike commandeered Washington Street in front of the Standard High Line hotel in the meatpacking district for a one-night-only tennis match reuniting Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
The Nike "NYC Street Tennis" event commemorated the 20th anniversary of an iconic Nike guerrilla street tennis commercial starring the two retired tennis greats that aired in 1995.
Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, and Roger Federer (pictured, left to right) were among the tennis celebrities who participated in the street tennis match, retreating to their front-row seats to watch Sampras and Agassi battle it out.
In total, between the players represented, the event featured 86 major singles titles. While V.I.P.s and editors were invited to sit "courtside," the August 24 event was, by and large, a surprise to passersby. To reinforce event nostalgia, Sampras and Agassi arrived in a vintage Chevrolet Caprice Classic taxi.
With Maria Sharapova having dropped out of the U.S. Open, all eyes are now fixed on Serena Williams, who is aiming to become the first woman to complete the calendar Grand Slam since Steffi Graf did it in 1988.
On August 25, Tommy Hilfiger launched its global brand ambassadorship with Rafael Nadal for Tommy Hilfiger underwear, Tailored, and TH Bold fragrance with a pop-up tennis match in Bryant Park. The event, which was open to the public, featured the brand's logo created as a tennis court on an elevated platform in the Midtown Manhattan park, flanked by a bevy of branded blankets on the lawn and a rise of bleachers on the concrete.
Tommy Hilfiger erected a makeshift court in the middle of Bryant Park, enlisting Jane Lynch to play referee as coach Sue Sylvester, her character from TV's Glee. Despite 90-degree temperatures, international press, personalities, and mobs of Nadal fans turned up to give the tennis champ a hero's welcome before the official start of the U.S. Open.
The 14-time Grand Slam winner Nadal, who wore a Tommy Hilfiger Tailored suit, challenged an assortment of well-known models in a rapid-fire tennis competition that featured a fun twist: whoever lost the point had to remove one accessory or article of clothing.
Actresses Jane Lynch and Lake Bell hosted the event from the umpire's seat as Nadal took victory in three consecutive games battling models ranging from Chanel Iman and Noah Mills to Hannah Davis and Constance Jablonski.
With the participating models all dressed in custom Tommy Hilfiger looks, the game was set: each time a team scored a point, their opponents removed a piece of clothing—eventually unveiling the new men's and women's underwear designs.
The Bryant Park setting allowed for the soaring skyscrapers to serve as the ultimate urban backdrop for the tennis game. As an American designer, Tommy Hilfiger also helped reinforce the notion of his hometown as a leading fashion capital.
