Monte Carlo Masters: Start date, past winners, history & more

Among the jewels of the men's clay court season, the Monte Carlo Masters is also a key early form indicator as the momentum starts to build ahead of the French Open.

Often the first real hit out of the year on the red dirt for the game's best male players, the 'Gem of the Mediterranean' is the first of three Masters 1000 events played on clay before the stars head on to Madrid and Rome.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is the defending champion after beating Casper Ruud in the 2024 final.

The 2025 Monte Carlo Masters will be the 118th edition of the tournament, which was first played in 1896.

Monte Carlo Masters Dates

The Monte Carlo Masters usually takes place in early April. The 2025 tournament will begin with qualifiers on 5th April and continue through to completion on 13th April.

Monte Carlo Masters Venue

With space at a premium in the Principality, the tournament's venue, Monte Carlo Country Club, is actually in France, albeit only 150 yards across the border.

Situated in the commune of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, the facility was opened in 1928 and is also the site of the Monte Carlo Tennis Academy.

Monte Carlo Masters History

As is often the case with clay court tournaments, Rafael Nadal holds the record number of victories at the Monte Carlo Masters.

The Spaniard has won the tournament on 11 occasions, first triumphing in 2005 and going on to win eight in a row up until 2012.

After losing the 2013 final to Novak Djokovic, he reclaimed the title in 2016 and won again in 2017 and 2018.

Nadal hasn't played since losing to Jordan Thompson in the quarter-finals of January's Brisbane International, but is scheduled to return from his hip injury in Monte Carlo before heading onto the play in the following week's event in Barcelona.

Djokovic also won the event in 2015, and his tally of two victories is the same number as Stefanos Tsitsipas, who triumphed in both 2021 and 2022.

That is one shy of two greats of the game, Ilie Nastase (1971, 1972 and 1973) and Bjorn Borg (1977, 1979 and 1980), while 1995 French Open champion Thomas Muster won the second of his three Monte Carlo crowns in the same year after previously triumphing in 1992 and retaining the title in 1996.

Monte Carlo Masters Significance

Known as the Gem of the Mediterranean, the Monte Carlo Masters, played for the 100th time in 2006, is about more than the glamour of its salubrious surroundings.

After the 'Sunshine Double' at Indian Wells and Miami, both on hard courts, the focus starts to turn seriously towards events on the clay, culminating with the start of the French Open at the end of May.

Although earlier tournaments are staged on the dirt, largely in South America and Mexico, the clay court campaign only starts to kick into gear when the clocks spring forward in Europe.

The Monte Carlo Masters is the first of three Masters 1000 events in the spring, with tournaments in Madrid and Rome following on.

There is also a Masters 500 event in Barcelona. After starting the season by playing on the faster hard courts, these tournaments are seen as key opportunities to adapt one's game to the slower, more deliberate play required on clay.