(the shoes in question)


If you’re looking for a big gear buzz at the Open, keep your eyes on Rafael Nadal’s feet. He’ll be wearing glow-in-the-dark Nike Air Max Courtballistec shoes, injected with a potent dose of reflective matter—think orange construction worker vests—into the polyurethane midsoles, according to a Nike source. The shoes, when placed under a fluorescent light, are supposed to give off a glow that lasts up to five minutes. The idea is to have Nadal enter a darkened Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first men’s night match with his shoes all aglow, according to the Nike source and the owners of Mason’s Tennis Mart and the Grand Central Racquet/NYC Racquet chain (who have the co-exclusive rights to stock and sell Nadal's Open shoes at their Manhattan stores during the Open). Meanwhile, a spokesman for the USTA, which runs the Open, says it hasn’t committed to “anything at all like that.”

With or without the Rafa’s illuminated grand opening, for a whopping $189 a pair, maybe the shoes should not only glow in the dark, but also get up and dance on their own.

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