Time for a commercial break

Nike have spent an awful lot of money trying to (in the language of the brand guys) 'own' tennis. And a fine job they have done too, with the four biggest names in the game - Roger, Rafa, Maria & Serena - all sporting the swoosh.

And yet, over here in the UK, Nike is almost invisible when it comes to tennis, with the firm preferring (perhaps understandably) to concentrate on football, rugby and athletics.

So I nearly fell off my chair on Sunday night when the fantastic new Nike 'courage' ad was played in almost every ad break during the Cincy final.

According to Joaquin Hidalgo, Nike Vice President of Global Brand Marketing:

“The commercial celebrates courage as the essence of the ‘Just Do It’ spirit. The fast paced cut takes viewers on an inspiring journey highlighting obstacles athletes at every level must face and overcome.”

It's an unbelievable ad, with a superb montage of icnonic sporting moments. Just a shame about The Killers sound track which is a bit obvious.

And for once it seems the UK (and the rest of Europe) get to see the ad before the US - it will be screened from tomorrow in the US. But if you can't wait you can watch it below.

According to the press relesae the Nike marketing guys have also come up with a smart digital campaign, which should enable you to find out about the story behind each of the stars in the ad. In theory you should be able to check it out here but there seems to be a glitch so I've yet to be able to get the site up and running. Maybe they are holding it back until the campaign goes live in the US tomorrow.