When Rafael Nadal won his first Monte Carlo Masters title in 2005, tennis fans could not have imagined what he would go on to achieve at the event.
Nadal went on to win a total of 11 titles at the tournament, the last being in 2018.
At the 2005 event, Nadal was just 18 years old and looking to win the biggest title of his career.
What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
He did just that, becoming the youngest Masters champion since Michael Chang at the 1990 Canadian Open.
After winning the title, Nadal was asked a pertinent question: was he the favourite heading into the French Open?
Rafael Nadal said he was not the French Open favourite after winning the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters
“No, no, no. I am not favourite, no,” Nadal said after beating Guillermo Coria 6-3, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 in the Monte Carlo final.
“Is my first Roland Garros. I only think about the next tournaments: Barcelona, Rome, Hamburg now, you know.
“I am playing good now, but I don’t know when is in the French Open I gonna play good or I gonna play bad.
“If I play the same like this, I can won, I can do a good result. Not favourite, but I can do good result. But I don’t know, is after one month.”
Nadal famously went on to win the 2005 French Open, defeating Roger Federer and Mariano Puerta on his way to the title.
By doing so, Nadal became the first player to win Roland Garros on debut since Mats Wilander in 1982, and the youngest champion since Michael Chang in 1989.
Nadal, who went on to win a record-breaking 14 French Open titles, won the 2005 French Open at the age of 19 years and two days.
Rafael Nadal’s final Monte Carlo title
In 2018, Nadal lifted the Monte Carlo trophy for the final time.
The Spaniard, seeded first, began the event by defeating Aljaz Bedene, Karen Khachanov and future US Open champion Dominic Thiem.
In the semi-finals, Nadal defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-1, setting up a final with 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori.
Nadal comfortably defeated the Japanese star 6-3, 6-2.
After winning the title, Nadal told reporters: “Well, I always repeat the same. My true feeling is these kind of things not going to happen forever, so just try to enjoy and to play with the full passion and with the full energy and concentration, full love for the sport until I can. That’s it.
“I know the day to say good-bye is closer than 10 years ago. Is something that I am not worried about, but is a real thing. So just enjoying every day and trying to play with the best attitude possible, to keep being happy playing tennis, no? That’s all.
“Yeah, of course is a special day for me. Winning again this title here in Monte-Carlo means a lot, especially because is the first tournament in the year that I finished.
“Have the victory in a Masters 1000, especially in Monte-Carlo, that for me is, yeah, one of the most important ones in terms of personal feeling and in terms of history of our sport.
“Very excited and very happy for everything.”
Nadal made his last appearance at the event in 2021, losing to Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals.
