Rolex and Tennis: Exploring A Partnership That Has Spanned Decades

A Look At The Long-Standing Partnership Between Rolex And Tennis

As this partnership gets stronger with the 2022 Roland Garros tournament, we take a look at the relationship between the watch brand and the sport.

By Sujana Raj Gurung

May 31, 2022

Rolex has been on a quest for excellence for more than over a century. To achieve this, the brand has ensured continuous improvements and innovation in watchmaking and other engagements. Rolex focuses on its Perpetual Excellence Initiative that seeks partnerships with individuals and organisations in the arts and the sports world who have reached the pinnacle of performance.

Following this theme, Rolex has been a longstanding partner of the beautiful sport of tennis by supporting its most prestigious tournaments, the leading players and the major organisations in tennis. Today, we deep-dive and explore this long-standing partnership between Rolex and Tennis that has spanned over 40 years.

Rolex has been the principal supporter of men’s and women’s tennis and it has shown this by embracing high-quality events and exciting talent. This includes partnering with four Grand Slam tournaments like the Australian Open in January, Roland-Garros in May/June,The Championships, Wimbledon in June/July, and the US Open, in August/September.

Rolex has been the Official Partner and Official Timekeeper of the Australian Open, also known as the ‘Happy Slam’ since 2008. It became the Premium Partner and Official Timekeeper of Roland-Garros as well as the Official Partner of the French Tennis Federation in 2019. When it comes to its partnership with Wimbeldon, Rolex has enjoyed an enduring partnership with the world’s first lawn tennis championship since 1978. Finally, Rolex became the Official Sponsor and Official Timekeeper of the US Open in 2018.

The brand’s close ties with tennis are a result of its close relationship with the bodies that govern the sport which includes men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)’s end-of-season championships like the Nitto ATP Finals and the WTA Finals. Additionally, Rolex also sponsors the Davis Cup (one of the leading international men’s team competitions) since 2007. This brand is also the Founding Partner of the Laver Cup which is a men’s team competition that pits six top European players against their counterparts from the rest of the world. This event is held over three days in late September.

Rolex Testimonee

The other most important aspect of the relationship shared by Rolex and Tennis is the brand’s list of Testimonees which include some of the sport’s most distinguished players. The list includes 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert, five-time Wimbledon champion Björn Borg and one of the game’s all-time greats, Rod Laver. As well as Swiss champion Roger Federer, who became the first player to win 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles. Rolex Testimonee’s commitment is a showcase of taking a watch’s uncompromising performance and showcasing it in real-life achievements. These partnerships have led Rolex to develop their Professional watches such as the Oyster Perpetual Explorer and Explorer II, the Cosmograph Daytona, the Submariner, the Yacht-Master and Yacht-Master II. This commitment to superior performance extended to the realm of sporting excellence, where Rolex is a leading and trusted partner.