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There are few sports in which time matters quite as much as tennis. Matches can last for hours, careers for decades, and a handful of moments can define a player's legacy forever. It seems fitting, then, that watchmaking and tennis have developed such a close relationship.As the world's attention turns once again to New York for the US Open, the connection feels particularly relevant. Roger Federer has just been inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Carlos Alcaraz is once again competing for the title at Flushing Meadows, and some of the world's most remarkable watches continue to appear on the court.Here are some of the timepieces, partnerships and players that have earned their place.

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Few players have embodied tennis quite like Roger Federer, and few sporting partnerships have become as recognisable as Federer and Rolex.

The timing could hardly be better. On 29 August 2026, Federer was formally inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Two days later, he returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium to receive his official Hall of Fame ring in front of the New York crowd.

Between 2004 and 2008, Federer won the US Open five consecutive times.

His relationship with Rolex stretches almost as far back as his ascent to the top of the sport. Federer became a Rolex Testimonee in 2001, two years before winning his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

Over the following quarter-century, watches became part of the visual language surrounding Federer. A Rolex would appear as he lifted trophies, posed for photographs and celebrated some of the defining moments of his career. The relationship continued long after his final competitive match in 2022.

And retirement appears to have made his watch choices rather more adventurous, as he has recently been seen wearing an extraordinary off-catalogue Rolex Cosmograph Daytona set with sapphires, a considerably more flamboyant choice than many of the understated pieces traditionally associated with him. During his return to Arthur Ashe Stadium this summer, he also appeared with Rolex's new colourful Oyster Perpetual “Jubilee” dial.

Among the many Rolex watches to have appeared on Federer's wrist, one is particularly relevant today: the Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116506.

Introduced in 2013 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Cosmograph Daytona, the 116506 was the first regular-production Daytona made in platinum. Its ice-blue dial and chestnut-brown Cerachrom bezel made it instantly recognisable, and Federer has been photographed wearing the reference on several occasions.

It is a fitting watch for a player whose relationship with Rolex has now spanned more than two decades, and one that creates a direct link between the newest member of the Tennis Hall of Fame and Adam's forthcoming sale.

An Ice-Blue Daytona Comes to Adam's

Among the many variations produced during the Daytona's long history, few modern references are as immediately recognisable as the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116506.

A 40 mm platinum Oyster case and bracelet are paired with a chestnut-brown Cerachrom bezel and Rolex's unmistakable ice-blue dial, a colour reserved by the manufacture for its platinum watches. Inside is Rolex's automatic calibre 4130.

The combination transformed a chronograph born from motor racing into one of the most luxurious sports watches Rolex had ever produced.

Thirteen years after its introduction, the 116506 occupies an interesting position within the history of the Daytona: recognisably modern, yet already part of a discontinued generation of the model.

Adam's will offer a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116506 in its forthcoming September Fine Jewellery and Watches sale, with an estimate of €50,000–70,000.

Federer's association with the reference also provides a natural bridge to the player who now represents the next generation of Rolex and tennis.

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If Federer represents one generation of the Rolex-tennis relationship, Carlos Alcaraz represents the next. And his approach to watches is rather different. Federer's collection became famous over decades. Alcaraz, still only 23, already appears to have developed a particular fascination with one Rolex above all others: the Cosmograph Daytona. His collection reads increasingly like a greatest-hits catalogue of modern Daytona collecting.
After winning Wimbledon in 2024, Alcaraz appeared with a yellow-gold Daytona fitted with a meteorite dial. A vivid turquoise-dial example followed. He has also worn an exceptional platinum and diamond-set Daytona with Eastern Arabic numerals. This summer he went further still. At the World Cup final in New Jersey, Alcaraz was photographed wearing the spectacular Everose gold Rolex Daytona “Rainbow” ref. 126595RBOW, its bezel formed by 36 baguette-cut sapphires graduating through the colours of the spectrum. The Rainbow Daytona has become one of the most recognisable and elusive modern Rolex watches. Then came the US Open. For his return to competition in New York, Alcaraz appeared with yet another exceptional Daytona: the rare yellow-gold “Le Mans”, distinguished by details including its red “100” bezel marking and a modified chronograph capable of recording 24 rather than 12 hours. At this point, it seems fair to say that Alcaraz does not simply wear Rolex, he collects Daytonas.
From Federer and the platinum 116506 to Alcaraz and some of the rarest modern interpretations of the model, the Daytona's association with contemporary sporting culture now stretches far beyond the racing circuits for which it was originally created.
But the relationship between watches and tennis goes much further than the Daytona.

When Watchmaking Met Tennis

‍Rolex's involvement in tennis did not begin with Federer or Alcaraz.It began at Wimbledon.In 1978, Rolex became associated with The Championships, beginning a relationship between the manufacture and tennis that has now lasted almost half a century. The familiar Rolex clocks around Centre Court have subsequently become part of Wimbledon's visual identity. Today, Rolex supports all four Grand Slam tournaments as well as a number of the sport's leading competitions and events.That relationship has even created a watch nickname.

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Few modern Datejust configurations are as instantly recognisable as the so-called “Wimbledon” dial. Its slate-grey background is punctuated by distinctive green Roman numerals, a colour combination that collectors inevitably connected with Rolex's long association with The Championships. Interestingly, the “Wimbledon” name is a collector nickname rather than the name of a dedicated Wimbledon limited edition. That arguably makes its success even more interesting. It is a watch whose association with tennis emerged culturally rather than through an engraving on the caseback or an official tournament logo.

The relationship has produced some remarkable personal stories. When Rod Laver was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981, he began wearing a 36 mm yellow-gold Rolex Datejust ref. 16018 with a distinctive Burled Madrone wood dial. More than four decades later, the Australian legend still regards the watch as a repository for the memories of his career and family.
Chris Evert also occupies a special place in the story. In 1978, the same year Rolex became associated with Wimbledon, « the American champion became the first female tennis player associated with the Rolex Testimonee family ». Björn Borg, winner of five consecutive Wimbledon titles between 1976 and 1980, would become another enduring member of the Rolex family.

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But other manufacturers have approached the relationship very differently.

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Hublot took the idea of a tennis player's watch considerably more literally.
The Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic, introduced in 2024, is not simply named after the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Parts of Djokovic's tennis career are physically inside it. Hublot created a special composite material using 25 HEAD racquets and 32 Lacoste polo shirts worn by Djokovic during his 2023 season, incorporating the recycled material into the watch's case and bezel.
The engineers then worked to reduce weight throughout the watch. With its lightest strap configuration, the finished piece weighs just 49.5 grams, less than a tennis ball. Even the details play with the sport: the bezel screws evoke the shape of a tennis ball, while one bracelet resembles the familiar terry-cloth tennis wristband. It is a wonderfully literal meeting of athlete and object.

But one partnership pushed the concept further still. Instead of building a watch from the equipment of a tennis player, Richard Mille built a mechanical watch capable of becoming part of that equipment.

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For most professional tennis players, the relationship with their watch begins when the match ends. The racquet goes down. The watch goes on. The trophy is lifted.
Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille changed that.

The challenge was extraordinary. A mechanical tourbillon would have to withstand the violent acceleration, repeated shocks and sudden changes of direction generated by one of the most physical players tennis had ever seen, while remaining light enough that Nadal could actually compete with it.
The result arrived in 2010. The Richard Mille RM 027 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal weighed less than 20 grams including its strap, making it the lightest watch of its kind when introduced. Its movement alone weighed approximately 3.8 grams.

And Nadal didn't simply endorse it. He played in it. The image of Nadal hitting a forehand with a six-figure tourbillon strapped to his wrist challenged one of the most basic assumptions of traditional haute horlogerie: that complicated mechanical watches should be protected from shocks.
Richard Mille instead treated the tennis court as a laboratory. Successive generations became increasingly extreme. The RM 27-03 was engineered to withstand shocks of 10,000 g, while the RM 27-04 pushed that figure to more than 12,000 g, its movement suspended within a structure reminiscent of the strings of a tennis racquet.
It is difficult to imagine a more complete union of tennis and watchmaking.
And yet the philosophy behind those extraordinary Nadal watches can be traced back to the early years of Richard Mille itself.

Before Nadal: The Richard Mille RM 005
Several years before Nadal began competing with a Richard Mille on his wrist, the young manufacture was already experimenting with the materials and engineering principles that would come to define it.
In 2004, Richard Mille introduced the RM 005, the manufacture's first automatic model. Powered by the automatic RM005 calibre, it offered hours, minutes, seconds and a semi-instantaneous date display. More significantly, it inaugurated Richard Mille's variable-geometry rotor, a patented system allowing the winding efficiency to be adjusted according to the wearer's level of physical activity.
It was an early expression of an idea that would become fundamental to Richard Mille: a mechanical watch should adapt to the person wearing it.
That philosophy would ultimately reach one of its most spectacular expressions on Rafael Nadal's wrist.
More than two decades after the RM 005 first appeared, early Richard Mille watches are increasingly fascinating documents of the period in which the manufacture was establishing an entirely new vocabulary for high-end watchmaking.

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Adam's will offer a Richard Mille RM 005 in red gold in its Fine Watches sale this December.

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Game, Set & Time

‍Perhaps that is why watches and tennis have proved such natural partners.Both are obsessed with precision. Both combine tradition with constant technical development. And in both, the smallest fractions can separate something merely good from something exceptional.Federer's induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this summer celebrates the players whose achievements have become part of the permanent history of the game. Watchmaking has its Hall of Fame too, and from the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona to the Richard Mille on Nadal's wrist, some watches have unquestionably earned their place.