Tennis and timepieces go hand in hand and for years the world’s biggest watch brands have maintained an association with the tennis elite. That applies most of all to the recent flock of GOATs (greatest of all time): Rolex is to Roger Federer – recently announced as a host of this year’s Met Gala – what Richard Mille is to Rafael Nadal, Audemars Piguet is to Serena Williams and Hublot is to Novak Djokovic. These players, recently retired or in the last years of their glorious careers, remain the most esteemed names in tennis, but it’s now time for new stars to take over, winning on the court and off it when it comes to watches as well as matches. Below, we explore the luxury watch brands upping their game and pairing up with the rising young guns of tennis: 1. Rolex In 1978, luxury watch brand Rolex forged a partnership with Wimbledon, often considered the most prestigious tournament of the four tennis majors – the others being the Australian Open, French Open and US Open. Rolex’s principal status in tennis was furthered when its ambassador, Federer, won Wimbledon in 2003. The brand has gone on to complete its own grand slam – partnering with all four majors. Italian Watch Spotter identifies the exact Rolex model per tournament: the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 for the Australian Open, the Rolex GMT Master II for the French Open at Roland Garros, the Rolex 41mm Datejust in Oystersteel and yellow gold for Wimbledon, and the Rolex 36mm Datejust in steel and yellow gold with a Jubilee bracelet for the US Open. Swapping Rolex for Casio? Inside Gerard Piqué’s luxury watch collection Staying in the game, Rolex has reportedly signed a slew of tennis’ new brand of greats, including women’s world No 1 Iga Świątek and men’s No 1 Carlos Alcaraz, and big-name players Coco Gauff, Caroline Garcia, Garbiñe Muguruza, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner and others. 2. Tag Heuer Tag Heuer has also been quick to sign up young stars. They’ve signed deals with two-time Australian Open and US Open champ, and former world No 1, Naomi Osaka, to front their brand. Up-and-coming tennis masters and Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime are also ambassadors. Osaka, sharing her love for both sport and style , has co-designed a limited-edition timepiece with the brand. It’s called the Tag Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 and it comes in a colour scheme she chose herself and is engraved with her logo on the back. It retails for US$3,950 on the website and is currently sold out. Tag Heuer is officially the timekeeper of the Stuttgart Open, also known as the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and also offers a luxury tennis watch collection that retails for US$2,000 and up. 3. Richard Mille Richard Mille is the label that convinced Nadal to wear a watch on court. On its website, it recalls how the “King of Clay” was reluctant to the idea, until Mille presented him with the “lightest tourbillon in the world at that time”, which Nadal describes as “like [a] second skin”. The latest model of his watch is the RM 27-04 Tourbillon. Empowerment on your wrist: why bolder, larger women’s watches are 2023’s trend Among the next-gen tennis pros, Richard Mille has ties with American Sebastian Korda, along with his sister Nelly, a big star of the women’s LPGA golf circuit. The Kordas are from a sporting family, as their parents are both former tennis pros, and their other sister is also a pro golfer. Sebastian Korda wears the RM 67-02, an Automatic Winding Extra Flat sports watch, which features “the lightest strap the brand has ever created”, per Richard Mille’s website. 4. Bulgari Luxury Italian fashion house Bulgari is levelling up its game. Last summer, it released an Après Tennis collection in collaboration with Moroccan-French brand Casablanca, showcasing stylish handbags that can take players from the court to the cafe, and beyond. Bulgari has also been producing tennis playing-appropriate jewellery, and of course, watches. It has partnered with Russian young gun Andrey Rublev, currently world No 6. Why are watchmakers obsessed with creating the world’s thinnest timepiece? “I felt part of the Bulgari family immediately”, he is quoted as saying in luxury lifestyle website Luxuo, after having discovered the brand through his sponsored watch and learning about the brand’s Save-the-Children initiatives. Per the website, Rublev’s Bulgari Aluminium Chronograph is an updated version of the original which was released back in 1998. Want more stories like this? Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter .