EVENT
Chris Kermode , Président excécutif de l ’ ATP , La Baronne Elizabeth-Ann de Massy , Présidente du Comité du Tournoi et Zeljko Franulovic , Directeur du Tournoi . Crédit photos : Direction de la Communication / Charly Gallo
No one has won a Masters tournament more than ten times and that has only been achieved in Monte-Carlo . Will the indomitable Rafael Nadal make it eleven ? The 2018 Rolex Masters is also the much-anticipated year of the Novak Djokovic comeback . He already won an historic victory against Nadal here in 2013 , ending Nadal ’ s eight-win running streak and another victory against Nadal in the 2015 semis where again Novak went home with the trophy . If Djokovic and Nadal meet in the final in Monte-Carlo in 2018 , tennis history is certain to be made . They are head to head with 30 Masters tournament wins each going into the tournament , the most of any players in history . Thirty-one wins would be an impressive feat . Even the great Roger Federer only has 27 Masters wins . Fresh from his Australian Open victory , Federer is listed as number two on the ATP lineup . Four times already he has been denied victory at Monte- Carlo , three times by Nadal and once in an all Swiss final by Wawrinka . Will it be Federer to take the trophy this year ? Of course , Djokovic needs to come into the Masters healthy without aggravating the persistent injury to his elbow that hampered him so much in 2017 . And Rafael Nadal ’ s legs need to hold up . So many years on the tennis courts has taken its
toll . Federer seems to glide effortlessly and smoothly across the court , but in Nadal one can see the effort . Perhaps 2018 is the year to finally see the so-called « youngsters » come up . If so , surely it will be Dimitrov , Zverev or Thiem . One way or another , there will be a spectacular result — on that we can count . Better still let ’ s count our winning chips at the Casino . It is after all Monte-Carlo !
Tournament History
Back in 1896 , the Monte-Carlo Tournament , likely played behind the Hôtel de Paris , was won by an Englishman , George Whiteside Hillyard who also won the mixed doubles with his wife Blanche Bingley , a Wimbledon Champion . The 1897 winner was Reggie Doherty , also of Great Britain , a fourtime Wimbledon champion who went on to win six Monte-Carlo titles before dying in 1910 at the age of just 38 .
Year after year , great amateur champions wanted to show their skills and with air travel , the tournament went global . Eventually in 1969 , the Open Era began and the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters became what it is today . Since then , the tournament has been attended solely by professional players , attracting the sport ’ s biggest stars to Monte-Carlo . The Monte-Carlo championship , with Wimbledon , are the oldest running tournaments in the history of the sport , both being the original tennis tournaments on the European continent . Today , it includes 24 teams and 56 individual players . The Rolex Masters tournament is held on the clay courts of the Monte-Carlo Country Club that was founded thanks to the American philanthropist George Butler , a great patron and lover of tennis . Each year , the winner of the championship receives the prize from one of the members of the princely family . There have always been warm , friendly relations between the Monte-Carlo Country Club and the ruling family . Prince Rainier III , a great tennis admirer , and his wife Grace Kelly supported the development of the club . Prince Rainier ’ s sister Antoinette was its chaperone for many years until her daughter , Elizabeth-Ann de Massy , took over its presidency . Prince Albert II of Monaco is also a great fan of the tournament and attends the event as a spectator whenever possible . The iconic grandstand , Court Prince Rainier III , is designed for 10,200 spectators , but many more watch it on TV , with the event being broadcasted in 66 countries around the world .
Winner takes it all
Monte-Carlo is where sports records are made and broken and the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters is the tournament to watch for record-breaking tennis in 2018 .
The prize fund in 2018 amounts to 4,872,105 euros . And the budget is only growing . In 2013 it was just under 3 million euros , while this year it is just shy of 5 million euros ! Rolex , the famous Swiss watchmaker , has been the main sponsor and partner of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters for many years . In the Open Era , Europeans have dominated at Monte-Carlo ; China , Russia and the United States have not seen many victories . No American man since Hugh Stewart in 1956 has been victorious here , although several did reach the finals including Mel Purcell ( 1983 ), Jimmy Arias ( 1987 ), and Aaron Krickstein ( 1992 ). And the final with Jimmy Connors and Guillermo Vilas had to be abandoned due to inclement weather . Michael Chang has partnered Prince Albert in doubles to honour the Princess Grace Foundation , so perhaps that counts as a double credit for China and the United States together . Russia has won Monte- Carlo once in recent times — Andrei Chesnokov in 1990 . And only one Frenchman has won the title in the Open Era — Cedric Pioline in 2000 . The only region to rival the great European players in Monte- Carlo so far is Latin America with the great Guillermo Vilas ( seen often nowadays coaching his daughter on the Monte-Carlo clay ), and also Alberto Mancini ( Argentina ), Marcelo Rios ( Chile ), Guillermo Coria ( Argentina ), and Gustavo Kuerten ( Brazil ), all having had the opportunity to raise the trophy . In the stands this year , enthusiastic fans from France , Italy , and Russia in particular will surely be calling for more wins from their countries ’ champions .
Hello Monaco Spring – Summer 2018 / 93