Geneva, Switzerland, 13 January 2021 – As the 2022 season gets under way, the tennis elite returns to Melbourne Park to contest the Australian Open. Rolex has been Official Timekeeper and Associate Sponsor at the first of the season’s four Grand Slam® tournaments since 2008.

The Australian Open has produced some of the most epic matches in the sport’s history, featuring many of the game’s greatest competitors. Dating back to 1905, it was originally played on grass, switching to hard courts in 1988.

Rolex’s relationship with tennis began in 1978 when the brand partnered with the oldest and most prestigious tournament, The Championships, Wimbledon. For more than four decades, the Swiss watchmaker has become a mainstay in the sport worldwide, forging lasting bonds with some of its most celebrated players, as well as the leading events and the organizations that administer the game.

GENERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Over the decades, the Australian Open has been a highly rewarding occasion for the Rolex family of Testimonees, which includes some of the most distinguished players to have graced the court, among them Chris Evert, Stefan Edberg and Roger Federer, all multiple winners in Melbourne.

In 2022, Rolex celebrates the 10th year of its partnership with Rod Laver, one of the most successful players in the history of the men’s game. The Australian won 11 Grand Slam singles titles during his illustrious career, three at his home championships. Fittingly, the centre court is named after him.

These legends of the sport have paved the way for the following generations, setting a benchmark for excellence and passing on their vast knowledge and experience to today’s aspiring champions.

ROLEX TESTIMONEES SEEKING SUCCESS
The opening Grand Slam tournament of the year provides competitors with an opportunity to find some early form for the long season ahead. Success in Melbourne requires poise, precision and endurance, qualities reflected in Rolex’s own continuous pursuit of perpetual excellence.

Several Rolex Testimonees will be striving to maintain the momentum from exceptional campaigns last year, including Alexander Zverev and Garbiñe Muguruza, who both finished on a high with season-ending triumphs. In Turin, Zverev followed his Olympic men’s singles gold medal with a second Nitto ATP Finals win, the German recording the most titles (6) of any player on the ATP Tour for 2021. Muguruza captured her 10th career title in sensational style with a straight-sets victory to lift the trophy at the Akron WTA Finals, becoming the first Spaniard to win the event.

Joining the respective men and women’s World No. 3s is a host of fellow Rolex Testimonees looking to start their 2022 campaigns on a positive note. Stéfanos Tsitsipás will seek to build on an outstanding 2021 during which he claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and reached the final at Roland-Garros. Jannik Sinner, who broke into the men’s top 10 for the first time, will aim to continue his rise to prominence following a commendable performance on his Nitto ATP Finals debut in November. In the women’s draw, World No. 8 Iga Świątek will have her sights on a second Grand Slam title after her 2020 triumph at Roland-Garros, aged just 19, while Belinda Bencic, who claimed Olympic singles gold in Tokyo last year, will also challenge for top honours.