Sponsored by Rolex, the Monte Carlo Masters is one of the premium ATP 1000 Masters tournaments, that takes place every year in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. In a clay court tournament, ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal has very aptly dominated this Masters event. He won it 11 times, which is more than thrice the number of titles won by the second-highest winner.
Nadal also holds 3 unique Monte Carlo Masters records which may not yet be broken. With 5,779,335 Euros as prize money for the past edition, this event has been taking place for more than 125 years now.
However, counting the Open Era since 1969, here are the top 5 players to have won the Monte Carlo Masters after Rafael Nadal’s 11 titles:
Illie Nastasie (1971, 1972, 1973)
At the start of the Open Era, Romanian legend Illie Nastasie won the Monte Carlo Masters three consecutive times. On each occasion, his opponents were Tom Okker, Frantisek Pala, and Bjorn Borg in respective editions. While he beat Pala and Borg easily by 6-1, 6-0, 6-3, and 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, Natalie lost a set against Okker as he won 3-6, 8-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Bjorn Borg (1977, 1979, 1980)
One of Sweden’s biggest sporting legends, Bjorn Borg too won the Monte Carlo Masters event thrice. Three years after Nastasie won his final Monte-Carlo Masters, Borg won his first in 1977. He beat Corrado Barazzutti of Italy 6-3, 7-5, 6-0. With Raul Ramirez winning in 1978, Borg won the 1979 title, beating Vitas Gerulatis 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 in the final. Borg successfully defended his title in 1980, beating Guillermo Vilas 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 in the final.
Thomas Muster (1992, 1995, 1996)
After Bjorn Borg, it was Austrian star Thomas Muster who also won the tournament thrice. Muster won it first in 1992 against Aaron Krickstein, beating the American 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. After 3 years, Muster won his 2nd title against German legend Boris Becker. He won 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4) after a tough 4 sets.
Muster successfully defended his title the next year, when he beat Albert Costa 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. It was a see-saw match, where Muster bounced back after losing the 2nd and 3rd sets.
Novak Djokovic (2013, 2015)
Novak Djokovic managed to win 2 Monte Carlo Masters titles amidst the Rafael Nadal hailstorm of wins in the mid-2000s and a large part of the 2010s decade. The Serb won it first in 2013 against Rafael Nadal in the final, in a rare scenario at the Monte Carlo Masters. He won 6-2, 7-6 (7-1).
With Stan Wawrinka winning in 2014, Djokovic won it again in 2015, defeating Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in the final on that occasion. The score was 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. He would be aiming to win his third title in the place of his residence and break his 9-year duck in 2024, being the top seed.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (2021, 2022)
One of the newer winners of the Monte Carlo Masters, Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas won the title back-to-back in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, he beat Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-3, and in 2022, he won against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the final.
Notable mentions: Many more players are tied with Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas with 2 titles each. They are Guillermo Vilas, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl, Sergi Bruguera, Gustavo Kuerten, and Carlos Alcaraz’s now coach – Juan Carlos Ferrero.
In a more recent update, Rafael Nadal is set to be back in action at the Monte Carlo Masters in April 2024. Provided he is fully fit from his injury, Nadal might start the clay season with this tournament and make it a whopping 12 title wins in just one tournament.
