The Monte Carlo Masters marks the beginning of the clay-court season in the ATP calendar. Ironically enough, it has also historically marked the end of a player’s long winning streak. Since the tournament marks a sharp contrast in the surface from its former tournaments in the calendar i.e. Miami Open, Indian Wells, etc, it often sees a different winner from most others.
And of course, Rafael Nadal dominating this ATP Masters event for more than a decade makes it even harder for other players. Here are the most famous 5 match-winning streaks that ended at the Monte Carlo Masters:
Rafael Nadal 30-match winning streak on clay ended by David Ferrer (2014 Monte Carlo Masters)
While it’s not exactly news that Rafael Nadal and clay courts are a match made in heaven, some of his win streaks on clay are pretty amazing. Like his 30-match win streak that began with the 2013 Barcelona Open. He won 5 matches in Barcelona, followed by 5 matches in the Mutua Madrid Open, another 5 matches in the Italian Open, and 7 matches in the French Open. Nadal had won 4 straight tournaments and 22 consecutive matches on clay in 2013.
He continued the same streak in 2014, where he won the 5 matches to win the Rio Open. After that, Nadal won 3 more matches in the Monte Carlo Masters that took him to the semifinals. But there, he lost to David Ferrer in the quarter-final. It was a tight first set, where Ferrer won 7-6 (7-1) in the tiebreaker. He won the second set 6-4 too and broke Nadal’s streak.
Roger Federer 25-match winning streak was ended by Richard Gasquet (2005 Monte Carlo Masters)
If 2006 was good for Federer, he had an even more amazing season in 2005. He won 11 singles titles that year, one of his highest ever. Federer was on a 25-match winning streak. It began with the ATP Rotterdam that year, which he won, followed by the Dubai Tennis Championships, Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, and 3 more matches at the Monte-Carlo Masters, before losing to Richard Gasquet in the quarter-final.
Roger Federer lost to Richard Gasquet 6-7 (1-7), 2-6, 6-7 (6-8). Barring the 2nd set, Federer put up a brave fight in the rest of the sets, tying both of them. Unfortunately, he lost both of them. This ended his 25-match winning streak.
Roger Federer’s 17-match winning streak was ended by Rafael Nadal (2006 Monte Carlo Masters)
In 2006, Roger Federer completed the Sunshine Doubles i.e. winning both the Indian Wells and the Miami Open back-to-back. He did it two more times in his career. Federer was nearly on the verge of winning the Monte Carlo Masters as well when he lost the finals to Rafael Nadal. He won 6 matches in Indian Wells, 6 matches in the Miami Open, and 5 matches in the Monte-Carlo Masters, before Nadal beat him 2–6, 7–6(2), 3–6, 6–7(5).
Nadal won the match after losing the first set very badly, and it brought a close to Federer’s 17-match winning streak. It also put an end to what could’ve been a historic Sunshine Doubles and Monte-Carlo Masters win in the same year.
Novak Djokovic 15-match winning streak was broken by Roger Federer, (2014 event)
Novak Djokovic was in quite some form in 2014. Just at the start of the year itself, he had built himself a 15-match winning streak that began with the BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells. He won that California-based tournament, followed by a win at the Miami Open. These two tournaments combined took his streak to 12 (6+6). He then won 3 straight matches at the Monte Carlo Masters before losing to Roger Federer in the semi-final.
Federer, who hadn’t been in the best of touch after his 2012 Wimbledon win, emerged like a beast out of nowhere to beat Djokovic. Djokovic lost the match 5-7, 2-6.
Stefanos Tsitsipas 14-match winning streak ended with a loss to Taylor Fritz (2023 event)
Rafael Nadal won the Monte Carlo Masters for a record straight 8 years. Besides him, only 4 other players have won the tournament in consecutive years. Illie Nastasie, Bjorn Borg, Thomas Muster, and Juan Carlos Ferrera are the 3 players, and Stefanos Tsitsipas is the latest on the list. The Greek player won the 2021 and the 2022 editions of this ATP Masters, and that meant he won 10 matches straight.
His winning streak continued into 2023 when he won 2 more matches. Tsitsipas’ 14-match winning streak in the tournament came to an end due to American No.1 Taylor Fritz. Fritz beat Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, leaving the young Greek looking for answers.
