Tennis legend Serena William has praised the new Nike Colin Kaepernick ad campaign.

The tennis star has called the new campaign a powerful statement”.

Nike’s decision to use former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick in the campaign have received backlash from its critics, after critics have burned Nike clothing and trainers to show their dissatisfaction against the ad campaign.

It was Kaepernick who was the first among all the National football League players to kneel during the national anthem before the start of the game to highlight the racial injustice and police brutality against the African-American community.

Williams said that Nike backing Kaepernick could be a controversial reason for the company, but they are not afraid. She also said that she felt it was a really powerful statement to a lot of other companies.

The 23-time Grand Slam titles winner, Williams who defeated Karolina Pliskova in the last 8 of the U.S. Open to reach the semifinals was speaking after the match in New York.

Williams had previously tweeted that she was proud to be a part of the Nike family, after the campaign was unveiled by Nike.

Those opposing Nike’s campaign had taken to Twitter and used the hashtag #JustBurnIt – a play on Nike’s slogan “Just Do It” – which trended alongside #BoycottNike.

In announcing the deal, Nike said Colin Kaepernick was one of the most inspirational athletes of this generation.

The National Football League also gave out a statement saying it embraces the role and responsibility of everyone involved with this game to promote meaningful, positive change in our communities.

Kaepernick have been out of contract since March 2017 and have sued the NFL in the same year, accusing the team owners of colluding to blackball him.