NEWS: The watches of the US Open, featuring Rolex, Richard Mille and more

Danny Crivello

As we embark on the 50th anniversary edition of the US Open, all eyes are on the new official timepiece of the tennis tournament, Rolex. Rolex is replacing Citizen, which had been a sponsor of the US Open for more than two decades. Rolex is already the official timekeeper of the Australian Open and has an impressive roster of tennis players among its ambassadors: Roger Federer, Juan Martín del Potro, Angelique Kerber and Sloane Stephens, to name a few.

Rolex chose the Datejust 41 on a jubilee bracelet for the feature timepiece on its US Open webpage. The white gold watch has a dark rhodium dial and fluted bezel. Should a Rolex ambassador raise the Tiffany & Co. hardware in Arthur Ashe Stadium, he or she might be sporting that Datejust. (We all remember Roger Federer’s striking blue-dial Sky-Dweller when he accepted the trophy at this year’s Australian Open.)

In the next two weeks, we will see close to AU$3 million in watches at the tournament, and Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic are all scheduled to play.

I expect Rafael Nadal — who won the US Open last year — to wear his limited edition Richard Mille Tourbillon watch, valued at a cool AU$980,000 (US$750,000). Richard Mille requests that brand ambassadors wear his timepieces while playing. Nadal’s RM27-03 model weighs just 20 grams.

Another Richard Mille brand ambassador, Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the youngest player in the ATP top 10, will wear his AU$950,000 (US$700,000) Richard Mille piece while on court.

On the female side, I can’t wait to see what Angelique Kerber, another German, will wear if she wins the US tournament. My guess is a white-dial Rolex Daytona, a piece she wore when she accepted the trophy at the Sydney International tournament earlier this year. She wore the same watch after winning Wimbledon in July.

Another female player, Elina Svitolina, the Ukrainian who ranks 7th in the world, is a Ulysse Nardin brand ambassador. Last year at the US Open she wore the Lady Marine chronometer model.

And in doubles, American Mike Bryan, who has been the world’s No. 1 doubles player for more than eight years, is a brand ambassador for Baume & Mercier, wearing the black-dial Clifton Club.

No tennis article is complete without mention of a Williams sister. It is a special time for Serena Williams, an Audermars Piguet brand ambassador, who is making a comeback to the American Grand Slam tournament — this time last year, she was giving birth to her first child.

I can’t wait to see if Novak Djokovic will be sporting the brand new Seiko Premier automatic skeleton in limited edition, the first Seiko automatic watch ever designed for Djokovic. The watch is due to be released worldwide as the tournament closes. Djokovic, a brand ambassador with Seiko since 2014, doesn’t play tennis with his watch, but wears it as soon as he steps off court.

Finally, the award for Best Brand Ambassador in Tennis, in my opinion, should go to “that other Swiss player”. Stan Wawrinka wears his Audemars Piguet while hitting the ball, and the watch is far from being Nadal’s featherweight tourbillon! In 2016, Wawrinka won the US Open title while wearing a 42mm Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph in steel, a piece he wore during the entire tournament.