Yep, you read that right. SERENA WILLIAMS. Fangirling over here so hard…
I was very lucky to have been given a place at an amazing session at the new pop-up Nike Court in London Bridge. I’ve applied for loads of the Nike events in the past and this is the first time I’ve been given a place. Totally worth all of the other disappointment at not getting places…
On a very hot lunchtime last week, myself and 40 other tennis fans arrived at the distinctive blue and pink Nike Court and got changed into some very fetching tennis shorts and top.
While they’re not necessarily what I would choose to wear to play tennis in they were really comfy, worked wonders with the sweat-wicking fabric and the undershorts came in my favourite EVER Nike colour, Volt. #DryfitWin
I also borrowed some Nike Zoom Cage 2 trainers and a tennis racket to complete the look.
Time to get started. We warmed up in pairs getting our hand-eye coordination in before moving on to some more skill-based drills getting control over the balls and working on the explosiveness needed for tennis. Having grown up playing tennis I really enjoyed this bit as I haven’t played for ages!
Then the moment arrived… We sat down to watch a Q&A with Serena as she told us about the process of designing her new NikeCourt Flare show with an added ankle support. I spoke to a couple of the girls there who were wearing the shoe and they said they were pretty comfy! You can check them out here or in the Kings Road Nike store.
After a couple of group selfies we then queued up to hit a ball with the legend herself. Ok, so the photo isn’t great (ignore the smiley bloke in the middle) but I’ve added some labels so you can see that I AM ACTUALLY HITTING A BALL THAT SERENA HIT. And breathe…
Basically, I’m in awe of her because in person she’s not quite as tall as she looks on the tv but she’s just as strong and solid as she looks. Her arms are powerhouses and the way that she moves on the court is amazing.
Ok, enough now. Thanks Nike UK for the opportunity to meet this legend and I can’t wait to see what she does at this year’s Wimbledon. New balls please.