Michael Jordan was my hero growing up, I used to watch him play a lot: Roger Federer

Michael Jordan's documentary The Last Dance provided a detailed insight into the Bulls legend's life on and off the court. In the early episodes of the ESPN-Netflix docu-series, the Nike-Michael Jordan deal was spoken about and how the commercial with Spike Lee led to the soaring sales of the Air Jordans. Nike then made the Jordan line into its own division, naming it the Jordan Brand. Over the years, Air Jordan has expanded beyond the basketball court, with collaborations with baseball and tennis athletes. Air Jordan's first collaboration in tennis was with Swiss ace Roger Federer when the 20-time Grand Slam champion sported shoes from the Jordan Brand for the first time in 2014. 

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Roger Federer achievements: Swiss ace reveals Michael Jordan was his idol growing up

Roger Federer spoke to For The Win via email through a Nike representative and revealed that he really got into basketball, soccer and tennis when he was seven years old. Coincidentally, the Jordan 3s were released that very year. In a video, Federer expressed his appreciation of Michal Jordan and revealed that the Bulls legend was his hero growing up. 

The 20-time Grand Slam champion said that he used to watch Jordan play a number of times and bringing a part of him on the tennis court was an incredible feeling. The tennis icon also praised legendary Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, who designed a majority of the Air Jordan shoes. Hatfield has worked on some of Federer’s past signature models and designed both the Air Jordan III and Zoom Vapor 9 Tour AJ 3.

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Roger Federer achievements: Michael Jordan on collaborating with Roger Federer

Roger Federer and Michael Jordan collaborated on the Nike Zoom Vapor 9 Tour AJ3 ahead of the 2014 US Open. In his first game sporting the shoes, the Swiss ace swept past unranked Australian Marinko Matosevic in straight sets. The match was attended by NBA legend Michael Jordan in person. Speaking to USA Today’s ForTheWin via a Nike representative post the match, Michael Jordan revealed his admiration for the 20-time Grand Slam champion and claimed he was following Federer's career for some time.

Speaking about the collaboration, Michael Jordan said that Roger Federer approached them wanting to design and wear a Jordan shoe on the court. When he heard that Roger wanted the shoe to be modelled after the Air Jordan IIIs, his interest was piqued. Jordan added that he wanted Federer to understand that the Air Jordans were not all about style and wanted him to get involved so that the shoe would help him perform at his best while still having the look and feel of a Michael Jordan sneaker.

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