On this day: Rafael Nadal wins first career Masters title Monte Carlo

Rafael Nadal currently holds the record for most ATP Masters 1000 titles with 35, and it all began for him on April 17, 2005—exactly 15 years ago today—in Monte Carlo.

Just 18 at the time, Nadal was already in the public eye. Since defeating Roger Federer at Miami in 2004, in their first career meeting, Nadal had picked up his first three ATP titles, climbed into the Top 20 and reached his first Masters 1000 final, also in Miami, right before the 2005 clay-court season.

Nadal nearly won that 2005 Miami final, too—he led Federer two sets to love, as well as 4-1 in the third, before the world No. 1 battled back to win in five sets, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1.

The story ended much differently in Monte Carlo a few weeks later.

Ranked No. 17 at the time, the Mallorca native stormed into the semifinals without dropping a set—including a 6-3, 6-0 quarterfinal thrashing of No. 6-ranked Gaston Gaudio, the reigning French Open champion. After a hard-fought 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3 semifinal win over fellow teenager Richard Gasquet, he was set to take on one of the most accomplished clay-courters in the world: No. 9-ranked Guillermo Coria.

After cruising through the first two sets of the best-of-five-set final, Nadal seemed to lose his way against the Argentine, dropping the third set at love—but he regrouped in the fourth set and closed it out, 6-3, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5, tracking down a drop shot and ripping a forehand winner on match point.

“What happened in Miami against Federer helped today,” Nadal said afterwards. “Today I was very concentrated all the time. Even when I lost the 4-1 lead in the fourth set and it was 4-4, I stayed very focused to win the match. The final in Miami was important for me for winning this match.”

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The Spaniard, who would make his Roland Garros debut six weeks later, was asked if his win in Monte Carlo made him the favorite in Paris.

“No, no, no, I am not the favorite, no,” he said. “It’s my first Roland Garros. I’m only thinking about the next tournaments. I’m playing well now, but I don’t know if I’ll be playing good or bad at the French Open. If I play like I did here I can win, or do a good result.”

Nadal had "a good result," along with 11 more in Paris.

To this day, Monte Carlo remains Nadal’s happiest hunting ground in terms of Masters 1000 events—he has won 11 of his 35 career Masters 1000 titles there. He has also won Rome nine times, Madrid and Canada five times each, Indian Wells three times and Hamburg and Cincinnati once each.

Nadal has a slight edge over Novak Djokovic for most ATP Masters titles—35 to 34—with Roger Federer in third with 28. Andre Agassi is next on the list, with 17.

Nadal also holds the record for most career Masters 1000 finals, though that one is even closer—he has reached 51, while Djokovic and Federer are both right behind him at 50. Agassi is next on the list, with 23.

As of now, Nadal’s records are both safe until at least the summer. The four Masters 1000s left on the 2020 calendar are Toronto and Cincinnati in August, Shanghai in October, and Paris in November.