Amongst the various divisions of opinion in tennis, Rafael Nadal being dubbed as the ‘King of Clay’ usually gains the unanimous verdict.
The Spaniard regularly paraded his world-class talent on the dark red courts throughout his glittering 23-year career.
Out of the 22 Grand Slam titles that he won, 14 came came on clay at the French Open to set a long-standing tournament record of most titles at the Slam ever.
Paris was clearly a favoured destination of his alongside Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the Monegasque border for the Monte-Carlo Masters.
The ATP Masters 1000 event, which was founded 129 years ago, first hosted a Nadal triumph in 2005.
It marked the start of eight consecutive title victories before he fell to a straight sets defeat in the 2013 final against Novak Djokovic.
But the preceding run is a tournament record for the most back-to-back successes at the Monte Carlo Country Club.
It also boasts the best winning streak of 46 matches before Djokovic rocked up to claim the first of his two triumphs.
Nadal won 73 of his 79 appearances on the court in Monte-Carlo, both of which are the leading figures for wins and matches respectively.
Another three titles came his way to increase his total to 11, which is the highest amount since the beginning of the Open Era in 1968.
Rafael Nadal’s Monte-Carlos Masters titles
2005 – Beat Gael Monfils, Xavier Malisse, Olivier Rochus, Gaston Gaudio, Richard Gasquet and Guillermo Coria
2006 – Beat Arnaud Clement, Jean-Rene Lisnard, Kristof Vliegen, Guillermo Coria, Gaston Gaudio and Roger Federer
2007 – Beat Juan Ignacio Chela, Kristof Vliegen, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer
2008 – Beat Mario Ancic, Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer, Nikolay Davydenko and Roger Federer
2009 – Beat Juan Ignacio Chela, Nicolas Lapentti, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic
2010 – Beat Thiemo de Bakker, Michael Berrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco
2011 – Beat Jarkko Nieminen, Richard Gasquet, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Murray and David Ferrer
2012 – Beat Jarkko Nieminen, Mikhail Kukushkin, Stan Wawrinka, Gilles Simon and Novak Djokovic
2016 – Beat Aljaz Bedene, Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and Gael Monfils
2017 – Beat Kyle Edmund, Alexander Zverev, Diego Schwartzman, David Goffin and Albert Ramos-Vinolas
2018 – Aljaz Bedene, Karen Khachanov, Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori
Nadal featured at 17 different tournaments, a record that he shares with former Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.
However, the pair will be overtaken this week by Djokovic with an 18th Monte-Carlo Masters appearance.
The Serbian has been given a bye into the second round of the 2025 edition as he is third in the top eight seeds.
Either wildcard entry and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka or Alejandro Tabilo will be his opponent.
Djokovic’s last Monte-Carlo title came ten years ago when he beat Tomas Berdych, making history in the process.
He became the first male player to win the year-opening three ATP Masters 1000 tournaments after Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
The 37-year-old reached the semi-finals in 2024 but lost to Casper Ruud despite winning the second set.
Should Djokovic bounce back in 2025 he will claim the 100th ATP title of his career, adding to his men’s record of 24 Grand Slams.
That would make him the second player to hit a century of honours on the tour after Roger Federer, who reached 103.
Djokovic is yet to win a Masters 100 title this year after an early exit at Indian Wells before losing the Miami Open final to Jakub Mensik.
He was seen practicing on Sunday afternoon with Carlos Alcaraz, who will meet Fabio Fognini or Francisco Cerundolo in the second round.
Monte-Carlo starts the 2025 ATP Masters 1000 clay season with the Madrid and Rome Opens then preceding the Grand Slam in France.
Novak Djokovic’s Monte-Carlo Masters appearances
2006 – Reached the first round – Roger Federer won 6-3 2-6 6-3
2007 – Reached the third round – David Ferrer won 7-5 6-4
2008 – Reached the semi-finals – Roger Federer won 6-3 3-2 [retired]
2009 – Reached the final – Rafael Nadal won 6-3 2-6 6-1
2010 – Reached the semi-finals – Fernando Verdasco won 6-2 6-2
2012 – Reached the final – Rafael Nadal won 6-3 6-1
2013 – Reached the final – Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-6 [7-1]
2014 – Reached the semi-finals – Roger Federer won 7-5 6-2
2015 – Reached the final – Novak Djokovic beat Tomas Berdych 7-5 4-6 6-3
2016 – Reached the second round – Jiri Vesely won 6-4 2-6 6-4
2017 – Reached the quarter-finals – David Goffin won 6-2 3-6 7-5
2018 – Reached the third round – Dominic Thiem won 6-7 [2-7] 6-2 6-3
2019 – Reached the quarter-finals – Daniil Medvedev won 6-3 4-6 6-2
2021 – Reached the third round – Dan Evans won 6-4 7-5
2022 – Reached the second round – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina won 6-3 6-7 [5-7] 6-1
2023 – Reached the third round – Lorenzo Musetti won 4-6 7-5 6-4
2024 – Reached the semi-finals – Casper Ruud won 6-4 1-6 6-4
