A Nike shirt that Alexis Ohanian put on to support wife Serena Williams during her Round 1 fixture at the French Open against Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu has sold out, forcing the global sportswear major to restock supplies in the champion’s wardrobe line.
The shirt, inscribed with words ‘Je ne m’arreterai jamais,’ French for ‘I will never stop fighting,’ worked its magic as the 23-time Grand Slam champion came through in straight sets against the Romanian.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the American as she blew a 5-2 lead in the opening set through an unusually high percentage of unforced errors and even saved set points in a closely-fought tiebreaker before recovering to win.
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Serena Williams beat Irina-Cameia Begu in Round-1 at French Open
But there was no looking back thereafter as Serena thumped Begu in the second to close out the match 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.
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An Instagram page of the Roland-Garros, which goes by the name ‘lastnightsgame,’ shared an image showing a masked-up Ohanian wearing the shirt as he cheers for Serena from the stands.
Also seen seated is the champion’s longtime coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
The image was tagged with a post saying, “Now that’s a supportive spouse. When Serena Williams made headlines for her first-round win at the French Open on Monday, her husband, Alexis Ohanian, drew attention in the stands for his Serena Williams-inspired Nike Shirt.”
To the post, Ohanian posted a cheeky reply saying, “Yooooo @nike where’s my check?!?”
According to the post, the shirt became so popular that it vanished off the shelves in no time and Nike had to replenish stocks which are part of the exclusive Serena clothing line.
Serena eked another hard-fought win to reach the third round
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Building on the positives from her opening-round win, the 39-year-old American put on a show against another Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu to reach the third round on Wednesday.
However, it was the second straight match where Serena was put through the grind, but she drew on her legendary grit and gumption to win in three sets.
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Read More: “Relied on Her More Than Ever”: Serena Williams Opens Up About Her Mother’s Unexpected Support
The American will play compatriot Danielle Rose Collins for a place in Round-4 at Roland-Garros on Friday.