How Nike and AKQA Used AI and Machine Learning to Simulate a Virtual Tennis Match Between Serena Williams’ Past and Present Selves

By: GoBeyond Team
July 27, 2025
3 min read
Nike AI-generated Serena Williams avatars playing virtual tennis match

Quick Overview

Nike and AKQA collaborated to create a groundbreaking AI-driven virtual tennis match featuring Serena Williams from two eras: her 1999 US Open debut and her 2017 Australian Open peak. By analyzing archival footage and gameplay data-including shot selection, reaction times, agility, and decision-making-machine learning models recreated detailed avatars of Serena from each era. Using Stanford University’s vid2player technique, the avatars were rendered to interact seamlessly in a live-streamed virtual match, showcasing Serena’s evolution and celebrating her career.

Nike & AKQA
Nike & AKQA
Company Size
Large multinational sportswear company & global digital agency
Revenue Range
Not publicly disclosed
Primary Challenge
Demonstrating athlete evolution and engaging fans through innovative AI storytelling
Key Metrics

- 1.7 million YouTube viewers
- 1,082% increase in organic views
- High engagement across social media platforms
- Simulated 130,000 games (5,000 matches)
- Live broadcast of final gameplay

The Problem

Traditional sports storytelling lacked immersive, data-driven visualization of athlete evolution

The Solution

AI and machine learning analysis of archival footage to model playing styles; vid2player technology to render interactive avatars; multi-platform social media campaign

Results

- Set new standards in sports marketing and storytelling
- Engaged millions of fans worldwide
- Provided deep insights into athlete performance evolution
- Created a novel format for sports analytics visualization

“This campaign was not just about AI; it was about how we used AI to tell a profound story of evolution and determination.”“The virtual match brought Serena’s journey to life in a way never seen before.”

Nike & AKQA Marketing Teams

Details

Industry
Retail & E-commerce
Departments
Marketing & Content
Use Cases
Campaign Management
Tags
GenAI
NLP
Scalability
Team Efficiency
Time-Saving
AI Tools Used
No items found.
Sources
https://www.markopolo.ai/post/case-studies-on-successful-ai-driven-marketing-campaignshttps://www.akqa.com/work/nike/nike-50th-anniversary/never-done-evolving/https://thenextarchives.com/ideas/inside-nikes-never-done-evolving-ai-generated-tennis-matches/https://gimmefy.ai/blog/mad-machines-nikes-ai-showdown-features-serena-vs-serena/https://designtaxi.com/news/419931/Nike-Taps-On-AI-Technology-To-Pit-Serena-Williams-Against-Her-Younger-Self/https://lbbonline.com/news/nike-uses-ai-to-pit-serena-williams-against-her-past-selfhttps://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/nike-never-done-evolving-case-study

More Case Studies

See All
How Spotify Uses AI to Deliver Personalized Playlists and Enhance User Engagement
Media & Entertainment
How Philippine Manufacturing Company Transformed Contract Management with Lexagle’s AI-Powered Platform
Manufacturing
How Paradiso Learning Uses AI Chatbot to Automate Support and Enhance Learner Engagement
Coaching
How General Electric (GE) Uses AI to Enhance Employee Performance and Predictive Maintenance
Manufacturing
How Walmart Uses Predictive Analytics to Optimize Inventory, Reduce Waste, and Improve Customer Satisfaction
Retail & E-commerce
How TLG Marketing Uses AI to Analyze Hospitality Customer Reviews and Improve Service Quality
Hospitality & Tourism

🤖 Chat with AI

Type...