Roger Federer is one of the greatest athletes ever. Across an illustrious career, Federer racked up one of the most distinguished resumes, helping him to strengthen his GOAT case. However, despite his greatness, the Swiss legend could never get his hands on the Monte Carlo Masters title largely due to his biggest rival back in the day, Rafael Nadal. Losing all four finals appearances in Monaco has resulted in FedEx missing out on over $1.1 million in prize money.
Federer made it to the Monte Carlo Masters finals in 2006 for the first time. But an in-form Rafael Nadal was just too much for the Swiss to handle as the latter suffered a 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, 7–6 loss. While Nadal won $421,225 in prize money which was a lot at the time, Federer was only rewarded with $210,612 USD.
2006 Monte Carlo Final:
(2)Rafael Nadal def. (1)Roger Federer 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(5)
Nadal defended his title in what was the 1st of 3 consecutive finals between the two in Monte Carlo.
Nadal improved to 4-1 vs Federer.
: RetroTennis pic.twitter.com/MacGMS8VNr
— Tennis Historian (@HistorianTennis) April 17, 2023
In 2007 and 2008, Roger Federer made it to the finals as well but lost to Rafael Nadal, yet again, on both the occasions. While the Spaniard won $461,856 & $563,504 respectively, Roger only won $230,928 & $281,752 USD respectively.
After six long years of not finding any success at the clay court tournament, Federer made a finals appearance in 2014. Pitted against Stan Wawrinka, Federer was expected to defeat his fellow countryman and lift his first Monte Carlo Masters title. However, Wawrinka pulled off an upset, defeating Federer 4–6, 7–6, 6–2. For the same, Stan was awarded $757,294 and Federer only pocketed $371,267.
Overall, Federer earned $1,094,559 USD from his four runner-up finishes in Monaco. However, the winners cumulatively got $2,203,879 for these four finals, more than double what Roger Federer received. He lost out on nearly $1.1 million USD because of losing these important finals.
Roger Federer is one of the richest athletes in the world. Throughout his career, Federer pocketed a grand total of over $130 million USD in prize money and his net worth is likely to be above $600 million USD as of 2024.
(Prize money figures from Perfect Tennis)
