The crowds were out in record-breaking numbers during this year’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. The Princely Family and many Monegasque celebrities all came together to watch a nail-biting tournament when Andrey Rublev clinched his first ATP Masters 1000 title.
Andrey Rublev is a fan favourite and has been amongst the world’s Top 10 for over two years. But on the Rainier III Court, he finally got his fairy tale victory. The red clay of the Monte-Carlo Country Club is where legends like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Bjorn Borg and Ivan Lendl have triumphed. Things didn’t look good for Rublev at first, after losing 4-1, Love-30, break point for 5-1, he was able to bounce back and win.
142,000 spectators
The 116th tournament went off without a hitch. New security systems allowed for 4,000 people to enter the tournament per hour, new LED panels lit up the courts, perfect weather shone all weekend, Monegasque player Romain Arneodo got to the finals and the number of spectators broke all records. With 142,000 spectators, it was the first time that the tournament had exceeded 140,000 people. Records were broken in all areas of the event, including catering, shops and the number of people on the train too (over 23,000 people when the record in 2017 was 22,000).
According to a recent interview with new director of the tournament, David Massey, people were particularly looking forward to going out this year. Event after Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Félix Auger-Aliassime announced their withdrawals on the same day, the tournament had 8 players from the Top 10 and 16 from the Top 20. The tournament’s social networks had thirty times more visits on than in 2022 (when Neymar with Djokovic had gone viral).
Following the tournament, €37,054 was donated by the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters to the Gemluc group, a Monegasque association that supports the fight against cancer. With a perfect tournament under their belt, teams are already looking for ways to improve the event for next year.
