Maurice Lacroix Blue Dial Leather Automatic Men's Watch MP6528-SS001-430

WORLDTEMPUS - 20 July 2012

Wimbledon, whose finals were played on July 8, is now getting ready for the Olympics. The 126th edition of the biggest title in tennis crowned the brand of the crown on the men's side and flashed retro style in the women's event. Miguel Seabra was on the scene and saw so much more.

Wimbledon and Rolex form not only one of the oldest partnerships in the history of sports sponsoring, but are also viewed as an ideal association - a case study since 1978, with both institutions bound by a deep respect for tradition and long-term vision. This is the reason it will seem odd to see Omega as official timekeeper at the All England Club during what will probably be the highest profile Olympic tennis event ever due to the legendary setting and the pedigree of the champions involved (even if Rafael Nadal won't play due to injury). Rolex, however, clearly dominated the recent 126th edition of The Championships, both on and off the courts.
First of all, in one of the most anticipated finals ever the champion that is Rolex's grandest ambassador prevailed: Roger Federer, who receives a reported 15 million Swiss francs per year from the Genevan brand. Showing smooth Swiss precision and displaying his modern classic style, the Basel native dismantled local hero Andy Murray with a blend of old-school sliced backhand shots and tremendous forehand accelerations en route to a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win that tied him with William Renshaw and Pete Sampras as most Wimbledon title winners (7). A consequence of the triumph, the thirty-something's return to number one in the world's rankings allowed him not only to automatically tie Sampras' benchmark of 286 weeks on top of the tennis hierarchy, but also to surpass him this week for yet another record. And when it was time to lift the trophy he didn't forget to put his timepiece on - even though the shell-shocked Murray forgot to do the same.

My kingdom for a title
The men's singles summit was guaranteed to provide history either way. Federer, who had become the first man ever to play eight Wimbledon finals, seized the moment. Murray, the first Brit to play a Wimbledon final since Henry "Bunny" Austin in 1938, battled valiantly but in the end couldn't become the first to win Wimbledon (or a Grand Slam) since Fred Perry in 1936. The Scot had lost his three previous Grand Slam finals without winning a single set, but started in emphatic fashion, only to be denied once again. Understandably gobsmacked and having signed with Rado a mere three weeks previous, he did not possess the reflex to put his D-Star 200 on for the ceremony that glued the United Kingdom to the telly: during his moving speech, Murray was constantly showing his bare left wrist whereas cameras frequently caught his emotional girlfriend, Kim Sears, sporting a timepiece from Federer's longtime sponsor: a Rolex GMT-Master II.
Ironically, a 24-year-old Federer - who had a steel Rolex Daytona when he won his first Wimbledon in 2003 - also forgot to don his Maurice Lacroix when he won the tournament in 2005, ruining the brand's desire to make posters out of the traditional trophy picture and globally advertise a partnership that didn't last the scheduled five years; Rolex bought the remainder of the contract time back in 2006.
 

During the final, the cameras also caught a Rolex Daytona in rose gold on Victoria Beckham's wrist and one of Rolex's leading employees in the star-studded Royal Box: Arnaud Boetsch, a former number 12 in the world rankings who gave France the winning point versus Sweden in the 1996 Davis Cup final and the main man behind the brand's comprehensive investment in tennis throughout the past decade. Beside its historical tie with Wimbledon, the Geneva-based company also sponsors another Grand Slam (the Australian Open), the biggest team competitions in the world (Davis Cup and Fed Cup), the year-end championships on both tours (ATP World Tour Finals and WTA Championships) and several Masters 1000 events - including the title-sponsored Monte-Carlo Masters and Shanghai Masters.
Army of ambassadors and a maverick
In an era where there are more watch sponsorships in tennis than ever, Rolex dominates with an army led by Federer that also includes top-tenners Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin del Potro on the men's side, and Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Li Na and Zheng Jie among the women. Other notable partnerships include Novak Djokovic, defeated by Federer in the semifinals, who signed with Audemars Piguet right after winning Wimbledon in 2011. Rafael Nadal wasn't able to repeat his 2010 title with Richard Mille, losing in the second round. David Ferrer, who's been wearing Bovet for years, succumbed in the quarterfinals. TAG Heuer's Maria Sharapova, fresh from her Roland Garros title, lost in the fourth round to Longines ambassador Sabine Lisicki and subsequently lost her leadership in the rankings.

All the men playing in the semifinals had watch endorsements, though not one of the women semifinalists were brand ambassadors - although runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska has had past ties to Longines, the official timekeeper of Roland Garros. The ladies' tournament actually crowned a champion who played wearing a watch as a retro fashion statement rather than an endorsed instrument. Since April Serena Williams has been touting an '80s-inspired Casio Calculator watch, and she didn't need to use the calculator function to add another singles title to her Grand Slam tally: 14, five of which were won at Wimbledon. However, she might have used it to add the 1.18 million pounds' prize money amassed at the All England Club to total her official prize-money winnings at around 38 million dollars.
So why does a multimillionaire known for her taste in expensive accessories wear a non-sponsored, non-advertised Casio CA53W-1 calculator watch that can be found on the secondary market for as little as $16.45? "It all started when my sister and I put on this tournament for our friends and family. And this year the theme was the '80s, so we all tried to outdo each other with accessories and I managed to find this crazy calculator watch and I wore it and I never took it off. I also found another 'ridiculous' '80s gold-plated watch…it's just fun, I can't get out of the '80s. I think I'm stuck in 1986 and I love it," Williams revealed during last week's title run (another one) in Stanford.
In just over one week from today, both Williams and Federer will return to the grass courts of Wimbledon as heavy favorites to win the coveted gold medal in singles for the first time. Both have previously won the Olympic title in doubles.