Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters

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.

The year 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. 

 

• For more information about the 2025 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters