By winning the final of the 118 th Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, Carlos Alcaraz has added his name to this tournament list. Twenty years after the first of Rafael Nadal’s 11 titles…
Amateur and Open eras combined, the Spaniard remains king with eight consecutive victories between 2005 and 2012. “Monte-Carlo is without hesitation one of my favourite tournaments of the season. Some of the most important moments of my career happened here,” he often explained to the media.
In the Open era, four players can boast of having lifted the Prince’s Cup three times: Ilie Nastase, Björn Borg, Thomas Muster and Stéfanos Tsisipas. Winner of three consecutive tournaments between 1971 and 1973, including a final against Björn Borg, ‘Nasty’, the world’s first number one player, made a lasting impression as a talented player and public entertainer. The Romanian also reached the final in 1974 before losing to the American Andrew Pattison.
Another three-time winner at Monte Carlo (in 1977, 1979 and 1980), Björn Borg chose the terracotta soil of the Monte Carlo Country Club to end his career prematurely at the age of twenty-six. It was also the site of his comeback in 1991. He thrilled audiences on the central court by playing with his wooden Donnay racket. The Swedish player lost against Jordi Arrese.
Austrian player Thomas Muster remains a major champion of the tournament with three titles. The most beautiful is undoubtedly his 1995 victory against Boris Becker in one the most incredible finals of the tournament (4/6, 5/7, 6/1, 7/,6 6/0). Nicknamed the Musterminator, the left-handed Austrian was the world’s best player on clay and went on to win the French Open, the only Grand Slam tournament he has won.
In the Amateur era, several players left their mark on the tournament. Four-time Wimbledon winner Reginald Doherty won the Monegasque tournament six times. His brother Laurence, nicknamed ‘Little Do’, won four titles. Between the two brothers on the podium was Anthony Wilding considered the best tennis player in the world from 1911 to 1913, a five-time champion before the outbreak of the First World War. French player Henri Cochet, along with Gordon Lowe and Nicola Pietrangeli, is among those who have won Monte-Carlo three times. Nicknamed the Magician, he is one of the “Four Musketeers” (the nickname given to France’s tennis team, which won the Davis Cup six times between 1927 and 1932).
The tournament’s prestige also lies in its doubles matches and the legendary pairs that have played. Brothers Bob and Mike Bryan won several times, as did the duo formed by Nenad Zimonjić / Daniel Nestor. Another noteworthy example is the unusual title won in 2008 by Rafael Nadal playing doubles with fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo.
In 2025, together with French player Manuel Guinard, Romain Arneodo is the first Monegasque player to win this prestigious tournament at home. He managed the feat of winning the final against British pair Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash (1-6, 7-6 (8), 10-8), after saving two match points in the second set. “I made a bet that if we won the tournament, I’d get a tattoo of the MCCC logo! I will honour this bet and am happy to do so – but don’t know where yet,” said the Monegasque player after receiving the Winner’s Cup for the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters doubles event from Prince Albert II of Monaco.
