Roger Federer gifts John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg custom Rolex watches as they bid farewell to Laver Cup
McEnroe and Borg have been affiliated with the Laver Cup since its inauguration in 2017.
Roger Federer handed outgoing Laver Cup leaders John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg a special Rolex GMT-Master II watches in his respective team colours. Federer, important in bringing the Laver Cup a reality, picked selected a Rolex Model, keeping the team colours in mind.
McEnroe was handed a Pepsi while a Batman will adorn the wrist of Borg, each with the engraving “Laver Cup, Team Europe/Team World Captain, 2017-2024.”
Borg and McEnroe have headed Team Europe and Team World, respectively, since the first edition in 2017. The Laver Cup led to a rekindling of their heated rivalry when they met each other 14 times between 1978 and 1981.
Their different temperaments and playing styles were a feature of their on-court battle. Borg was cool and composed on court, his manner frequently bordered on a distinct lack of expression.
McEnroe acquired renown for his court-side tantrums, including his meltdown when arguing a line call at Wimbledon in 1981, which gave us the immortal phrase in tennis, “You cannot be serious.” That term even made it to the title of McEnroe’s memoirs.
Laver Cup will travel to San Francisco for the 2025 edition and will see Frenchman Yannick Noah take leadership of Team Europe while Andre Agassi will take over the reins of Team World.
The seventh edition of the Laver Cup took place from September 20 to 23. Team Europe nearly got it past the finish line against Team World with to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz’s decisive triumph against American Taylor Fritz (6-2, 7-5) in the tournament’s last match. The outcome was 13-11 in favour of Team Europe.
The current conclusion replicated the outcome in the 2019 Geneva edition, where Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal led Team Europe to a 13-11 win for their third straight trophy.
On the final day, Ben Shelton upset Daniil Medvedev in the opening singles tie to put Team World to the edge of triumph, picking up three important points to nudge his team ahead 11-7.
That was before local hero Alexander Zverev overcame Frances Tiafoe, helping Team Europe continue in the chase. Alcaraz shut the door on Team World’s aspirations of a third consecutive Laver Cup victory by taking down Taylor Fritz in 90 minutes. Team Europe has now won five of the last seven editions of the team tournament.
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