It has been 14 years since Rafael Nadal first set foot on the hallowed grounds of the Monte-Carlo Country Club. A precocious 16 year old with immense promise, Nadal would notch his first Top 10 win over countryman Albert Costa in 2003, before falling to Guillermo Coria in the third round, but that was just the beginning of a reign that sent shockwaves throughout the ATP World Tour for years to come. The Spaniard would return to the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters two years later and proceeded to exact revenge on Coria in the final - his first of eight consecutive titles in the Principality. Nadal has fond memories from his tenure at the prestigious Masters 1000 event. "Everything was new...
The doubles field at this week’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters is not only stacked with all the top doubles players on the ATP World Tour, but also many of the world’s best singles players. Stan Wawrinka prevailed in his first-round match with Fabio Fognini on Sunday by ousting the veteran team of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor 6-4, 7-6(2). Their path won’t get any easier as second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut await in the next round. Two-time Monte-Carlo singles champion Novak Djokovic teams up with fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki and will open against Gilles Muller and Gilles Simon. Djokovic/Troicki ousted Herbert/Mahut en route to a quarter-final finish last month at the BNP Paribas Open. Should they win their first...
Looking at his FedEx ATP Win/Loss Record, it'd be easy to assume Andy Murray started feeling more comfortable on clay last year, when the Scot won a personal-best 18 matches and lost only three on the red dirt. But on day one of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, the Scot said his successful transformation into one of the best clay-court players actually began in 2015. Two years ago, Murray had never won a clay-court event. But that year he set a goal to take home a clay-court title and he arranged his schedule to help make it happen. For the first time, Murray entered a smaller clay-court tournament, the BMW Open by FWU in Munich, an ATP World Tour 250 event....
World No. 2 Novak Djokovic is a proud Serbian, but the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters is essentially a home tournament for him. The second seed at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event will play Gilles Simon in his opening match. Djokovic is quite familiar with this tournament, making his 11th appearance. Monte-Carlo holds a soft spot for the Serbian after winning here twice (2013, 2015) and also finishing runner-up twice (2009, 2012). But after living in Monte-Carlo for more than seven years and even opening up a restaurant in the city, he’s relishing the comforts of home as he competes. “It’s great to be in a place where I spend the most time when I’m not traveling. This is where...
Tenth seed David Goffin left no room for sentiment on Sunday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters when he overcame fellow Belgian Steve Darcis 6-2, 6-1 in 72 minutes. Goffin, who also beat his compatriot at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open in February, lost just three of his second service points (18/21) for his 20th match win of the season. "I played well from the start," said Goffin, who will next play Nicolas Almagro or a qualifier. "We had long rallies [and] I was solid. I made him run a lot. I was playing very well tactically. I was playing the right way. I was able to protect my serve with my second serve. I was very solid. I'm very happy...
