The Monte Carlo Masters has evidently been one of the toughest tournaments for players to win. Players who were in their best of forms have often found themselves struggling in this tournament. While the Roqueburne-based ATP 1000 Masters event starts off the clay-court season, it has also been the ‘Achilles Heel’ for many players, quite often ending their winning streak.
Here are 5 multiple Grand Slam winners who have never won the Monte Carlo Masters event:
Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi has been going to the Monte Carlo Masters since 1991, a year before he won his first Wimbledon title. However, despite a span of 10 years or more, Agassi only participated in Monte Carlo four times, losing every time before the 4th round. In 1991, he got knocked out in the 2nd round; in 1994, it was in the 1st round; in 1996 it was in the 3rd round; in 1998 it was in the 2nd round.
Although the Monte Carlo Masters created history in a way by pitting Agassi with Pete Sampras at the 1998 edition, it remains a blot in the 8-time Grand Slam champion’s otherwise storied career.
Pete Sampras
Closely following Andre Agassi is his arch-rival Pete Sampras, who also never won the Monte Carlo Masters. Sampras was the player with the most Grand Slam titles during the time of his retirement. But on clay overall, a lot was left to be desired about his game. As a matter of fact, he only participated in the event 4 times in his career – 1992, 1995, 1997, and 1998.
He lost in the second round on three of those occasions and in the third round in 1998. That time, he defeated Andre Agassi in the second round.
Roger Federer
Roger Federer’s Monte Carlo Masters story is a classic example of ‘so close and yet so far’. This is because the 8-time Wimbledon champion has played the finals of the Monte Carlo Masters 4 times and never won it. Ever since the year 2000, Roger Federer played in the Roqueburne-based tournament 13 times.
Of those 13 appearances, he played the quarter-finals 4 times and the final 4 times. From 2006-2008, he played 3 back-to-back finals, losing every single one of them to Rafael Nadal. Federer only came closest to winning in 2006, when he took a set from Nadal. But eventually the Spaniard won it 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3.
The last time Federer reached the finals in 2014, Stan Wawrinka beat him 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Federer lost the match despite winning the first set and nearly bagged the second set as well.
Andy Murray
Andy Murray won the Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016. He’s also won the US Open in 2012, and yet this 3-time Grand Slam winner has never won the Monte Carlo Masters. He came close thrice when he reached the semi-finals in 2009, 2011, and 2016. All three times, he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. Andy Murray participated in this competition 9 times in his career, and it remained a fortress he could not breach.
Carlos Alcaraz
World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz, the US Open 2022 and Wimbledon 2023 champion, has only participated in the Monte Carlo Masters once before in 2021, and he lost in the second round to Sebastian Korda. The score was 6-7 (6-2), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6. Unfortunately, Alcaraz will once again not play in the tournament in 2024, withdrawing over fitness concerns.
