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<\/p>\nLand of the Rising Osaka.<\/p>\n
What a year it\u2019s been for tennis\u2019 newest and brightest rising star, Naomi Osaka. Ranked outside the top 60 in the world a year ago, Naomi embraced the role of underdog and rose up against Serena Williams \u2013 Nike tennis\u2019 ambassador and face of the sport for the better part of the past two decades \u2013 en route to an impressive 2018 US Open win in Flushing Queens.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Osaka flip-turned the Land Down Under upside down and won the Australian Open \u2013 her second Grand Slam Women\u2019s Singles Title \u2013 while in the process securing the world\u2019s #1 rank.<\/p>\n
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To top it off, last week, in a bold and surprising move, Osaka abruptly left Adidas and signed with Nike, signifying the de facto passing of the torch from Serena, illustrating Nike\u2019s slogan, \u201cit\u2019s only crazy until you do it.\u201d In light of Osaka\u2019s incredible and defining year in tennis, we not only give Naomi and women\u2019s tennis players around the world a nod of respect but also pay tribute to women\u2019s tennis sneaker history.<\/p>\n
Tennis in the 90s was largely dominated by the sport\u2019s two biggest stars – Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras \u2013 whose fierce rivalry, classic Nike kicks and innovative ad campaigns helped launch the sport into mainstream American consciousness even among casual fans.<\/p>\n While Astounding Andre and Pistol Pete battled it out in the men\u2019s circuit, there were several women who guided women\u2019s tennis throughout the 90s and into the new millennium, many of whom rocked men\u2019s pairs on court during a time when it was socially acceptable and commonplace to do so.<\/p>\n One such 90s Nike women\u2019s tennis athlete who has been lost in the discussion and deserves recognition today is Lindsay Davenport. A three-time Grand Slam Champion, 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist alongside male counterpart, Andre Agassi, and former #1-ranked player, Lindsay played the baseline well and did so with style, brute force, and stylish appeal, rocking a plethora of Nike kicks throughout her professional career.<\/p>\n In the early 90s, Lindsay rocked the Nike Supreme Court Low, a model made for Jim Courier with a modified outsole made for the grass courts at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n In the mid-90s, Lindsay followed the \u201cmore is more\u201d movement and sported the 1998 Nike Air Max Astound with its dual-pressure chamber visible heel Air Max2 unit which offered superior protection on the hardcourt.<\/p>\n Finally, in the late 90s, Lindsay, along with Federation Cup teammate, Monica Seles, sported the underrated Air Court Motion in Palo Alto \u2013 a model she also wore at the US Open that same year, punctuating a long and successful career with the Swoosh brand as one of women\u2019s tennis\u2019 most dominating players of the decade.<\/p>\n Another memorable women\u2019s tennis star in the 90s era was Monica Seles, winner of nine Grand Slam Singles Titles including four Australian Open Titles, three French Open Titles, and two U.S. Open Titles.<\/p>\n Prior to her unfortunate attack suffered on court in 1993, Monica was the darling of women\u2019s tennis, at the time the greatest challenge to Steffi Graff, widely considered the greatest women\u2019s tennis player of all-time.<\/p>\n Seles helped women\u2019s tennis shed its mundane, boring, and dull demeanor as she oftentimes loudly grunted when returning a serve or executing an explosive backhand, showing fierce competitiveness, drive, determination, and aggression, possessing Rocky Balboa\u2019s \u201ceye of the tiger,\u201d a trait also observed in contemporary counterpart, Naomi Osaka.<\/p>\n While on court, Seles was properly laced in myriad of Nike sneakers including the 1995 Nike Air Resistance, the 1999 Nike Air Court Motion alongside Federation Cup teammate, Lindsay Davenport and most notably, the 1996 Nike Air Haze, a model which appeared on a Nike phone ad characteristic of the 90s era, a silhouette which remains one of the most underrated and under-appreciated sneakers in modern history.<\/p>\n Inspired by Seles\u2019 love of Jimi Hendrix, the Air Haze featured a guitar along the outsole and guitar picks on the lateral aspect of each shoe, and visible heel air sole unit, a beautifully-crafted, high performance, stylish sneaker with superb technology and overall aesthetics which has yet to receive a retro treatment, much to the dismay of men\u2019s and women\u2019s fans of 90s tennis.<\/p>\n A final women\u2019s tennis staple from the classic 90s era who deserves a shout-out is Jennifer Capriati, also a former world #1-ranked player, 1992 Olympic Gold medalist and three-time Grand Slam Champion including two Australian Open Titles and a French Open Title in the early part of the millennium.<\/p>\n Jennifer, like her female counterparts, occasionally rocked men\u2019s kicks on court including the 1995 Nike Air Interior, 1996 Nike Air Zoom Challenge – signature sneaker of Andre Agassi, designed by Wilson Smith with its unique and highly distinctive psychedelic outsole pattern inspired by Salvatore Dali impressionist art.<\/p>\n The girl many old school 90s heads had a crush on, \u201cCap\u201d also rocked the 1998 Nike Air Max Astound, a popular court model also worn by fellow 90s rival, Lindsay Davenport.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s tennis, particularly Nike women\u2019s tennis, has not been in a better place or time in its history, a moment where consumers and fans of the game and its branded athletes can rejoice and celebrate the career of Serena \u2013 the face of the sport \u2013 while at the same appreciating the injection of new blood and talent in the pool as the sport and brand look towards the future, to the next generation led by the game\u2019s newest, brightest, and youngest shining star – Naomi Osaka – a multicultural, talented, hard-working, and humble young woman originally from the Land of the Rising Sun, a role model not just for women but for people everywhere, a fitting reminder that anything is possible.<\/p>\n Game, set, match, Osaka, the heir apparent to Serena Williams and future of Nike women\u2019s tennis. No argument needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Land of the Rising Osaka. What a year it\u2019s been for tennis\u2019 newest and brightest rising star, Naomi Osaka. Ranked…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":328308,"featured_media":900407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[4,1204210,1225484],"cultivate_rss":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/files\/2018\/08\/lead-2.jpg\")
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