Record Alert: Stefanos Tsitsipas joins an elite list including Rafael Nadal after his Monte-Carlo Masters win

The ATP World Tour Masters Series 1000 event in Monte Carlo, where Stefanos Tsitsipas was defending champion, began off the clay-court season in fashion. After a tense battle, the Greek was able to successfully defend his title by defeating Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. However, the World No.5 isn’t the only Open Era player to have ongoing success in the competition. Here are six players who have made a habit of winning in Monte Carlo.

#1. Ilie Nastase

Ilie Nastase of Romania was one of the first Open Era players to make the tournament his own playground. “Nasty” won the title three years in a row, from 1971 to 1973. The last year he won the event, he happened to beat future No. 1 Bjorn Borg in the final.

#2. Bjorn Borg

The long-haired Swede with the headband is one of the most famous faces in tennis. Known as the Ice Man for his incredible calm and composure, he dominated tennis in the late 70s. It’s safe to deduce that Bjorn Borg fared well on the clay court during his career. He had a lot of success in Monaco, where he won three titles. Borg first won the title in 1977, then repeated the feat in 1978 and 1979.

#3. Thomas Muster 

Borg and Nastase weren’t the only players to win three consecutive titles in Monte Carlo. Austrian Thomas Muster brought the tournament into his comfort zone as well. Muster defended his win there in 1996 after going back to back the previous two years. He also won the title there in 1992.

#4. Juan Carlos Ferrero

In the final of Monte Carlo 2003, the crowd had a chance to see the battle between the defending champion and world no. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero and Guillermo Coria. Due to bad weather, the title match had to go down to the best-of-three format for the first time since 1993, and Juan Carlos became the first player to defend the title in the Principality after Thomas Muster in 1996 following a commanding 6-2, 6-2 victory in just an hour and 16 minutes. It was the sixth ATP crown for the 23-year-old, and his second win in as many matches against the Argentine, ousting him in the third round at Roland Garros a year earlier. 

#5. Rafael Nadal

Since the inception of the series in 1990, only six men have won 11 or more ATP Masters 1000 titles. One of those men, Rafael Nadal, has remarkably achieved that feat at a single event. The Spaniard has won the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters 11 times, matching former World No. 1 Pete Sampras’ haul across all Masters 1000 tournaments with his dominant reign in the Principality. The Mallorcan, who has won 71 of his 76 matches at the event, won an Open-Era record eight successive titles from 2005 to 2012 and a further three straight crowns from 2016 to 2018.

#6. Stefanos Tsitsipas 

Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Andrey Rublev, claiming his first ATP Masters 1000 title in 2021. Following that, the Greek showed off his exceptional clay court skills by reaching the final of the French Open 2021, where he was defeated by eventual champion Novak Djokovic. Tsitsipas, however, had a string of poor performances in 2022. Just when everyone thought his career was over, he made a remarkable comeback in Monte-Carlo 2022, defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets and reclaiming his title.

Also Read: “Nobody deserves it more than you,” tennis Twitter reacts as Stefanos Tsitsipas downs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to defend Monte-Carlo title

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