Rafael Nadal has arguably been the face of the Monte Carlo Masters, which often faces questions of its importance whenever he hasn’t played, like this year. The Monte Carlo Masters is one event that Nadal has dominated like no other player in the history of the sport, having played 17 times there and won the title on 11 occasions.
Besides racking up almost 6.6% of his total career earnings at Monaco, Rafael Nadal has put many fashion critics to place with his outfits in the competition over the years, which have gained cult status.
2006
Rafael Nadal chose a unique outfit to defend his title at the Monte Carlo Masters 2006. The Raging Bull styled his iconic shorts that went below his knee along with a green sleeveless shirt. Regarded as the “Sleeveless Shirt and Pirate Shorts” outfit by Tennis.com, the youngster caught the entire world’s attention. This younger Nadal look, with his long locks, remains missed a lot by fans even today.
Nadal would go on to win the title for the 2nd time in his career, defeating Roger Federer 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, 7–6 in the finals.
2009
By 2009, Rafael Nadal decided to ditch his “Sleeveless Shirt and Pirate Shorts” style and wore the more accepted length of white shorts and a white-sleeved shirt with a significant amount of yellow as well. The green headband that Nadal wore also complimented the hint of green present on the shirt. Nadal wanted to look more mature as a tennis player, after reaching the World No.1 at just the age of 22.
Defeating Novak Djokovic 6–3, 2–6, 6–1 in the finals, Nadal lifted the title for a fifth consecutive time.
2010
Rafael Nadal chose to wear an all-blue outfit at the Monte Carlo Masters 2010, with shades of white in it. It could also be construed as a tribute to France, whose national sporting jerseys have the same colors. Apart from a relatively blue-sleeved shirt, Nadal wore white and blue checked shorts. He also sported a yellow headband and eye-catching blue shoes too, making the outfit for the Spaniard, a first-of-its-kind for him.
Apart from defeating Fernando Verdasco to win his sixth title at Monaco, during that 2010 season, Rafa became the first and remains the only player to win the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Madrid Open, the Rome Open, and the French Open in the same year.
2011
Nadal decided to switch to warmer colors and donned a bright yellow shirt along with grey shorts and fairly green shoes. Ultimately, the green headband and armbands were an intriguing addition to his outfit.
2016
Rafael Nadal wore an orange-sleeved shirt and matched it with armbands, headbands, and even shoes (hint of orange) of the same color. To top it off, the legend wore his iconic Richard Mille watch with an orange strap after the conclusion of every match.
Defeating Gael Monfils 7–5, 5–7, 6–0 in the finals of the Monte-Carlo Masters 2016, Nadal won the first title of his last three-peat at Monaco.
