The Monte-Carlo Masters (as of 2012^[update] sponsored by Rolex) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. The tournament is played on clay courts and is held every year in the April-May period.

The Monte Carlo tennis championship was first held in 1897. It became an "Open" event in 1969. Between 1970 and 1989 it was a major tournament of the Grand Prix Tour as part of the Grand Prix Championship Series top tier events, before becoming an ATP Championship Series Single Week tennis event.

Beginning in 2009, Monte Carlo became the only ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament to not have a mandatory player commitment. Most of the top players still elect to play the event.

Rafael Nadal has won the title 8 consecutive times between 2005 and 2012, making him the only player in the open era to win 8 consecutive titles at the same tournament.

Monte Carlo (French: Monte-Carlo, Occitan: Montcarles, Monégasque: Monte-Carlu) is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco.

Monte Carlo is widely known for its casino and its prominence. The permanent population is about 15,000 in Quarter. Monte Carlo quarter includes not only Monte Carlo proper where the Le Grand Casino is located, it also includes the neighbourhoods of Saint-Michel, Saint-Roman/Tenao, and the beach community of Larvotto. It is also one of Monaco's 10 wards, with a population of 3,500. It borders the French town of Beausoleil (sometimes referred to as Monte-Carlo-Supérieur).

The "Monte Carlo" name is of Italian origin, meaning "Mount Charles" named after the Prince Charles III of Monaco during the time of his reign.

Founded in 1866, Monte Carlo has a name of Italian origin meaning "Mount Charles", in honor of the then-reigning prince, Charles III of Monaco. The specific mountain is the escarpment at the foot of the Maritime Alps on which the town stands.

The history of the area and the ruling Grimaldi family, however, dates back centuries. The port of Monaco is first mentioned in historical records as early as 43 BC, when Julius Caesar concentrated his fleet there while waiting in vain for Pompey. In the 12th century, the area fell under the sovereignty of Genoa, which was granted the entire coastline from Porto Venere to Monaco. After much conflict, the Grimaldis regained the rock in 1295, but suffered a significant amount of opposition in the ensuing years. In 1506 the Monegasques, under Lucien, Lord of Monaco, were under siege for some four months by the Genoan army, which had ten times the number of men. Monaco officially received full autonomy in 1524, but experienced difficulty retaining power, and on occasions briefly fell under the domination of Spain, Sardinia, and France.

Novak Djokovic (Serbian: Новак Ђоковић or Novak Đoković; pronounced [nɔ̂ʋaːk dʑɔ̂ːkɔʋitɕ] ( listen); born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since 4 July 2011. He has won five Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008, 2011 and 2012 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open. By winning three Majors in 2011, Djokovic became the sixth male player in the open era to win three Majors in a calendar year.

He is the first male player representing Serbia to win a Major singles title and the youngest player in the open era to have reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam events, separately and consecutively. Amongst other titles, he won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2008 and was on the team which won the 2010 Davis Cup. He also won the bronze medal in singles at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He has won 11 Masters 1000 series titles placing him joint fourth on the all time list. Djokovic has quickly moved up in the rankings of history. Tennis Channel ranked him number 40 , and former player Pat Cash said he is one of the greatest ever.

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan: [rəˈfɛɫ nəˈðaɫ pəˈɾeɾə]; Spanish: [rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa]) (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. As of 28 May 2012 (2012 -05-28)^[update], he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time; his success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player of all time.

Nadal has won ten Grand Slam singles titles, including a record six French Open titles (tied with Bjorn Borg), the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 21 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011. He completed the Career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, being the seventh player in history, and the youngest in the open era, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi.

Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgarian: Григор Димитров; born May 16, 1991, in Haskovo) is a tennis player from Bulgaria. He achieved a career high ranking of World No. 52 on August 22, 2011. Dimitrov also enjoyed a very successful junior career, in which he held the World No. 1 ranking and won the boy's singles titles at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships and the 2008 US Open.

Grigor was born in Haskovo, Bulgaria as the only child of father Dimitar, a tennis coach and mother Maria, a sports teacher and former volleyball player. He first held a tennis racket, given to him by his mother at the age of three and when he was five he began to play daily. During his teenage years he lived in Paris, France while training at Patrick Mouratoglou's Tennis Academy. He speaks fluent Bulgarian and English and says his main interests are all sports, cars, computers and watches.

His first major junior coup was when, at aged 14 he claimed the U14 European title. In 2006 he won the Orange Bowl U16 boys singles and was later named the Eddie Herr International 2007 Rising Star.