PHOTO OP: Nike knocks it out in New York

I stopped by the Nike Primetime Knockout Event last night that featured Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, and Victoria Azarenka playing light-hearted doubles with actor Bradley Cooper, model Bar Refaeli and New York Giant Justin Tuck and debuting their US Open outfits on Pier 54 in New York City. Serena Williams, her boot (it was on) and umbrella made a special appearance as the hilarious on-court interviewers. They killed it last night even asking Rafa + Fed to show their abs to the crowd (they politely declined. *super sad face*) She seemed so much more relaxed - maybe it's because she's not competing. Yeah.

My friend, Michael Alan (www.michaelalanphotos.com), came with me and took a ton of great photos some of which are above and below. He really captured the fun and frivolity that was had by all. I'll upload the rest of the album to the DtL Facebook page as the come in. I did my part and grabbed a few shots of my own from on-court and during the media session and posted those on my TweetPhoto page. They're not as nice as Michael's so please, BE KIND.

And, the always awesome Karen over at GV Tennis News has the full recording from the media q & a that happened after the doubles exo. Pop on over there if you're so inclined.

If you want to borrow some of these images, please make sure to credit Michael Alan (though the very last one would be mine so credit me!)

P.S. - Check out my Twitter timeline for more detailed (and I use that term uber-loosely) coverage of the action last night. Good times.

[Photo(s): Michael Alan, DtL]