The 12 Spanish men to reach Monte Carlo final in Open Era as Carlos Alcaraz joins list
Carlos Alcaraz has become the latest Spaniard to reach the Monte Carlo Masters final after beating compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last four of the ATP Masters 1000 event.
The four-time Grand Slam winner ended his 13-month Masters final drought with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 win over Fokina as he booked his place in the showpiece match on the clay courts in the Principality.
His last final was at the 2024 Indian Wells Open when he won the title with a straigh-set win over Daniil Medvedev.
“It’s been a long time. But I just had to be patient. I had to believe that this moment would come again. Just working hard,” he said.
“Probably people are not patient… they want me to make a final in every tournament. So I’m really happy to give them the chance to watch one of my finals again. I’m happy with my team and with everything we’ve done in this period since the last final. I’m gonna try to enjoy this moment.”
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The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, who has won five ATP 1000 trophies, will face either Alex de Minaur or Lorenzo Musetti in his seventh Masters final.
But he will look to become the sixth Spaniard to win the title, but of course, one person is peerless and that is Rafael Nada with his 11 titles at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
The 12 Spaniards to reach Monte Carlo final in Open Era:
One final
Albert Costa, Alex Corretja, Fernando Verdasco, Albert Ramos Vinolas, David Ferrer, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and now Carlos Alcaraz are the Spaniards to reach one final in Monte Carlo.
Alcaraz still has to play his final, but the other six failed to win the title as Costa lost against Thomas Muster in 1996, the following year Corretja was beaten by Marcelo Rios. Rafael Nadal beat Verdasco in 2010, Ferrer in 2011 and Ramos Vinolas in 2017 while Davidovich Fokina lost against Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2022.
Two finals
Manuel Orantes was the first Spaniard to reach the Monte Carlo Masters final in the Open Era, but he lost against Zeljko Franulovic in 1970, but five years later he defeated Bob Hewitt to win the trophy.
Carlos Moya made his maiden final appearance at the tournament in 1998 and defeated Cedric Pioline. He returned to the final in 2002, but this time finished runner-up to compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Ferrero, meanwhile, won both his finals as he followed up his win over Moya with another title in 2003, defeating Guillermo Coria.
Three finals
Sergi Bruguera beat Boris Becker in the 1991 final to lift his first trophy at the Masters 1000 event and two years later he got the better of Pioline for a second title.
But Andrei Medvedev ended his winning streak in finals as he beat the Spaniard in 1994.
Twelve finals
Although Rafael Nadal made his Monte Carlo debut in 2003, his dominance started two years later as he won the first of his 11 titles at the clay-court event.
Nadal went on to reach eight consecutive finals, winning all eight of them, before Novak Djokovic ended his run in the 2013 final.
The all-time great won another three titles from 2016 to 2018.
