Top five oldest men's singles champions at Monte Carlo Masters

Eleven-time champion Rafael Nadal is the oldest player to win the Monte Carlo Masters.

The Monte Carlo Masters is one of the most challenging tournaments on the tour. This occurs at the start of the clay season and has produced surprisingly different results on several occasions. However, only a few players have etched their names in the tournament’s history by winning the Monte Carlo Masters multiple times.

Whenever the tournament is mentioned, the names of those players will also be taken. Apart from winning the competition multiple times, some tennis stars have excelled at the Monte Carlo Country Club in their 30s and even on the wrong side of their 30s. The oldest champion in the tournament’s history is Britain’s Gordon Lowe, who won the Monte Carlo Masters in 1923 at the age of 38.

However, we’ll only discuss the champions in the Open Era in this article. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the top five oldest men’s singles champions at the Monte Carlo Masters:

5. Stan Wawrinka: 29 years, 23 days

Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka‘s only title in Monte Carlo came in 2014. In an all-Swiss final, Wawrinka outperformed countryman Roger Federer.

The ‘Big 3’ were at their peak during the early 2010s, and the semi-finals of the 2014 Monte Carlo Masters were played between David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka & Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Both Swiss tennis stars reached the final, where third seed Wawrinka won.

4. Guillermo Vilas: 29 years, 7 months, 25 days

Guillermo Vilas was 29 when he won his second Monte Carlo Masters title in 1982. He stunned Czech tennis legend Ivan Lendl in the summit clash 6–1, 7–6(7–3), 6–3. It was Vilas’ fourth singles title of the year and the 56th of his career. Guillermo Vilas won his first title in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in 1976.

3. Cédric Pioline: 30 years, 10 months, 8 days

Cédric Pioline was seeded 8th in the 2000 Monte Carlo Masters. Pioline defeated Magnus Larsson of Sweden and Jiri Novak of Czechia in first and second rounds.

Later, with wins over Ctislav Doseděl and Karol Kučera, the Frenchman reached the quarter-finals. He then stunned Karol Kučera and Karim Alami to reach the final; he was up against Dominik Hrbatý.

Hrbatý fought hard against Pioline but lost 6–4, 7–6 (7–3), 7–6 (8–6). Interestingly, Cédric Pioline didn’t face any seeded player throughout the campaign. It was also his first and only Masters title on the Tour.

2. Fabio Fognini: 31 years, 10 months, 28 days

Fabio Fognini‘s run at the 2019 Monte Carlo Masters is worth remembering. The Italian tennis star kicked off his campaign against qualifier Andrey Rublev. After getting a walkover in the second round, he stunned Alexander Zverev to reach the quarterfinals.

In the last eight, he beat Borna Coric in three sets to secure a berth in the semi-finals, where he was up against 11-time champion Rafael Nadal. However, Fognini beat Nadal 6-4, 6-2, and later won the final against Dusan Lajovic to win his first Monte Carlo title.

1. Rafael Nadal: 32 years, 19 days

The most successful player in the tournament’s history is also the oldest to capture the title. Rafael Nadal‘s title win in 2018 also pushed him to the top spot on this list. The Spaniard won his first title in Monte Carlo in 2005 and won subsequently until 2012.

In 2018, Nadal was seeded first and started his campaign against Aljaž Bedene. In the third round, he beat Karen Khachanov to set up a fixture against Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals. Thiem failed to put a competitive performance against Nadal and lost 6-0, 6-2. Later, with wins over Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori, the 22-time Grand Slam champion won his 11th Monte Carlo Masters title.

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