Rolex, Federer serve Laver Cup captains Borg and McEnroe one last surprise as they step down
Zach BlassLegends honoring legends. As Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe ended their seven-year tenure as Laver Cup captains, the milestone was marked with Roger Federer, on behalf of Rolex, presenting the legendary pair with engraved watches.
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The Laver Cup, founded in 2017, just held its seventh edition from September 20 to 23, with Team Europe narrowly defeating Team World via Spaniard Carlos Alacaraz’s decisive win over American Taylor Fritz (6-2, 7-5) in the tournament’s final match. Known to be the tennis equivalent to golf’s Ryder Cup, the Laver Cup is an annual international indoor hardcourt tournament that has six of the top European ATP players compete against six of the best from around the world. The teams are each led by a tennis legend captain, with the past seven years seeing Bjorn Borg lead Team Europe and John McEnroe lead Team World. But, perhaps the even bigger news than Team Europe’s victory this year was the revelation that Borg and McEnroe are stepping down as team captains – with Andre Aggasi to take over captain duties in 2025 for Team World and Yannick Noah to take the helm of Team Europe. However, they certainly did not walk away empty-handed.
Each received a Rolex GMT-Master II watch with a commemorative engraving on its caseback, each engraved with Laver Cup text, followed by the team they were a captain of, and ending with the seven years they served as captains. Matching Borg’s blue captain’s jacket, he was presented with a GMT-Master II ‘Batman’ on an Oyster bracelet.
McEnroe, in a similar fashion, was gifted a ‘Pepsi’ to match his red captain’s jacket (although if Rolex had given us a Coke bezel like Tudor this past Watches and Wonders, it would have been a better match). A fitting tribute for two of tennis’ fiercest competitors, once heated rivals and now great friends and forever connected through history and horology. And who better to receive the watches from than Roger Federer himself?