The 5 men with the most Monte Carlo Masters titles: Rafael Nadal with 11 triumphs
There are no prizes for guessing who is the most successful Monte Carlo Masters champion – with Rafael Nadal dominant at the event across his career.
However, others have been able to find success as well, with five separate men having won three or more titles since the Open Era began in 1968.
=2) Ilie Nastase – Three titles (1971-73)
One of the greatest players of the early Open Era, former world No 1 Nastase won three straight Monte Carlo titles from the start of the 1970s.
The Romanian beat Tom Okker 3-6, 8-6, 6-1, 6-1 to claim his first title in 1971, and successfully defended his title in 1972 with an emphatic 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Frantisek Pala.
Nastase successfully completed his ‘three-peat’ in 1973 with victory over a young Bjorn Borg, beating the Swede 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
He almost made it four straight titles in 1974, though he lost in the final to Andrew Pattison.
=2) Bjorn Borg – Three titles (1977, 1979-80)
Though he lost to Nastase in 1974, tennis icon Borg bounced back to match the Romanian’s three titles in Monte Carlo.
Three years after his first final, the Swede claimed the title for the first time in 1977 with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-0 triumph over Corrado Barazzutti in the final.
After missing out in 1978, Borg regained his title in 1979 with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 victory over America’s Vitas Gerulaitis – and then successfully defended his crown in 1980.
Borg swatted aside fellow clay-court great and two-time Monte Carlo winner Guillermo Vilas 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 for his final title at the event.
=2) Thomas Muster – Three titles (1992, 1995-96)
One of the most successful clay-courters of the 1990s, Muster ruled over Monte Carlo with three triumphs at the tournament.
The Austrian captured the title for the first time in 1992, making like work of Aaron Krickstein with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 victory over the American in the final.
Muster then won the tournament for a second time during his iconic 1995 clay swing, rallying from two sets down to beat Boris Becker 4-6, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(6), 6-0 and claim one of his 11 titles on the dirt that year.
Former world No 1 Muster then successfully defended the title in 1996, triumphing for the final time with a 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Albert Costa.
=2) Stefanos Tsitsipas – Three titles (2021-22, 2024)
Former world No 2 Tsitsipas has won three Masters 1000 titles – and all of them have come on the clay courts of Monte Carlo.
The Greek dispatched Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-3 to win the title for the first time in 2021, and then successfully defended his crown in 2022 with a 6-3, 7-6(3) triumph over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
After a quarter-final exit in 2023, Tsitsipas then stormed back in 2024 to prevail for the third time, defeating Casper Ruud 6-1, 6-4 in the final.
Tsitsipas is seeded sixth for the 2025 tournament.
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1) Rafael Nadal – 11 titles (2005-12, 2016-18)
A dominant force in Monte Carlo, no one comes close to the 11 Monte Carlo Masters titles won by ‘King of Clay’ Nadal.
The Spaniard lifted the title for the first time in 2005 with a 6-3, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 victory over Guillermo Coria, kickstarting a run of eight straight victories at the event.
That run included consecutive final triumphs over Roger Federer from 2006-08, wins over Novak Djokovic in 2009 and 2012, a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing of Fernando Verdasco in 2009, and victory against David Ferrer in 2010.
After losing the 2013 final to Djokovic and missing out in 2014 and 2015, Nadal captured his ninth title in 2016 thanks to a 7-5, 5-7, 6-0 triumph over Gael Monfils.
Nadal then defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-3 in the 2017 final and dispatched Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2 for his 11th and final crown in 2018.
