Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

After a problematic year and losing to Spanish compatriot Feliciano Lopez in Cincinnati last week and Kei Nishikori in the previous week’s Masters Series event in Montreal, it is hard to make a case for Rafael Nadal being a contender for the US Open title.

But the eighth seeded former champion still has an enormous marketing power and the major event in the build up to action at Flushing Meadows has been the release of his new Tommy Hilfiger advertising video which shows 29 year-old Nadal stripping down to just a towel in the locker room, giving maximum exposure to the brand’s underwear.

The Tommy Hilfiger marketing gurus are promoting the campaign as ‘TommyXNadal’ and maintained on Twitter: “‘Introducing the new face – and body – of our underwear collection. You’re welcome!’

Nadal has been announced as Global Brand Ambassadorship with Tommy Hilfiger. He was center of attention at Bryant Park in Manhattan yesterday and is designated to spend most of today (Wednesday) working in New York for the campaign. He responded by Tweeting:”Excited to share my new collaboration with @TommyHilfiger underwear. Meet us in NYC today to celebrate! #TommyXNadal.”

He spent time with Tommy Hilfiger himself, the designer being a massive tennis fan and a member of the ATP Business Advisory Board set up by Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode last year.

Hilfiger said: “Because we’re so global now, Rafael Nadal resonates globally in most countries in the world. He also looks amazing in the underwear and the clothes.”

The advertisement begins with two times US Open champion Nadal quickly pulling off his shirt as he walks into the locker room, which is decorated in Tommy Hilfiger’s signature red, white, and blue.

He then slowly removes his jeans, as the camera lingers on the fit star’s derriere, and of course the Tommy Hilfiger underwear. It then zooms in as he begins to pull down the form-fitting white briefs, coming dangerously close to baring it all for the camera.

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.