From 5 to 13 April 2025, the Monte-Carlo
Country Club will host one of the oldest and most prestigious clay court tennis
tournaments, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (ATP Tour).
Stefanos
reaches the promised land
Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas is currently
the king of the Monegasque clay after clinching the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters
for the third time in four years (2021, 2022, and 2024).
He joins an illustrious roll call of names that includes Ilie Nastase, Bjorn
Borg and Thomas Muster, part of an exclusive club of the only players to have
won the Masters three times in the open era. His record in Monaco even
outshines that of Novak Djokovic, who has triumphed here twice.
But to become the true undisputed master of the Masters, he will need to outdo the legend that is Rafael Nadal.
And that will be no mean feat, given the Spaniard’s eleven singles titles and one doubles title.
To see the full list of previous winners, visit the official website of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
An
exceptional tennis tournament
On 2 April 1893, the Principality's first
Tennis Club was founded, the "Lawn Tennis de Monte-Carlo", built on
the cellars of the Hôtel de Paris.
In 1897, the first tennis tournament in
Monegasque history took place in the Principality. It was called the
Monte-Carlo Tennis Championship. From
the outset, the tournament included men and women in two categories. There were open, doubles and handicap
tournaments. The first years, in fact,
were dominated by the Doherty brothers, two Britons who had excelled at
Wimbledon.
Until 1905, then, the tournament was played
behind the Hotel de Paris before moving, in 1906, to la Condamine, with the
Club gaining an extra court, an archery range, and a croquet pitch. It was the first year that the men’s draw
exceeded 16 entries with 18 players.
1914 marked the first entry by one Suzanne
Lenglen, the Frenchwoman dubbed "the Divine" who dominated exchanges
on the ochre courts of the Principality between 1919 and 1926.
In the early 20s, the tournament relocated
to the roof of Auto-Rivera, a garage in Beausoleil. This would be its
penultimate move.
The arrival of George Butler, an American
who had made his fortune in cigarettes, marked an important milestone in the
tournament’s history. A tennis fanatic, George Butler campaigned for a
long time with the Société des Bains de Mer for the construction of a large
tennis complex to match the Principality’s image.
The Club was officially opened with
grand ceremony in February 1928, by H.S.H. Prince Louis II of Monaco, in the
presence of royalty including tennis fan King Gustav V of Sweden, the Duke of
Connaught, Prince Nicholas of Greece, Grand Duchess Elena and Grand Duke Andrei
of Russia.
Now with a basement sports
hall, changing rooms for professionals, as well as three additional courts, the
Tennis Club provided improved facilities for its champions as well as the public
every year. For in the not so distant past,
it was the Club members who lent their changing rooms to the players.
Ten months later, it was renamed
"Monte-Carlo Country Club".
It was not until 2006 that Monte-Carlo Country Club joined forces with the
famous watchmaking house to give the tournament its present name, the Rolex
Monte-Carlo Masters.
The Open era
With the advent of the Open era in 1969,
professional players took part and the tournament was among the most
prestigious events on the circuit. It is now also one of the Masters 1000
series. Unlike other tournaments in this category, the top thirty players in
the world are not required to take part, although most choose to do so.
The women’s tournament was organised in the 1960s and 1970s, and last took
place in 1982.
The Rolex Monte-Carlo Tennis Masters, the first
major tournament of the European season, brings together 56 players on clay
courts in a straight knock-out format with six rounds.
Matches are played to the best of three sets, with a tie-break in each.
The doubles tournament is contested by 24 teams, or 48 players, in a straight
elimination tournament of five rounds.
The teams include the top eight seeds who have a first-round bye.
Photo credits:
© S.M.E.T.T. / Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters / Benjamin Vergély / © MONTE-CARLO Société des Bains de Mer / Fairmont Monte Carlo / lifevents group