Monte-Carlo...
119 Years Of Significance

As a result of being a tennis journalist for decades, I have had the opportunity to travel widely covering tournaments. One of the additional joys is cultural discovery... and all of it has been enriching.

Do I have favorite events... I do. Do I have favorite locations and countries... Another I do... to both.

France, which I first visited in the 1960s, leads my location cavalcade. Going further, I have had the good fortune to spend days often weeks in the Côte d'Azur area that runs along the Mediterranean coastline moving west from the Italian border to Nice. Known as the French Riviera... its notable resorts include Cap-d'Ail, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Antibes and Cannes... And because of the proximity I was able to also explore Saint Tropez, Toulon, Cassis and even Grasse, the "Perfume Capital" that is in the hills above the coast.

Monaco, bordered on three sides by France and facing the Mediterranean, is not only unique because it is a Principality... It stands alone because, April 5-13, it is hosting the 119th edition of the tournament now known as the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters... It is mystical and magical for more than being one of the nine designated ATP 1000 championships...

The first Monte-Carlo Lawn Tennis International was held in 1896 at the Lawn Tennis de Monte-Carlo Club... on red shale clay courts in the wine cellars of the Grand Hôtel de Paris... One hundred-fifty men and women played the inaugural event. Interestingly, Monaco's population, that year, was around 13,700... but there is no indication how many residents competed.

The tournament remained in the cellars until 1905, then the club and the game's seventh oldest event became the Monte-Carlo Championships... and moved to La Condamine, in Monaco's central ward, where it was played until 1914.

Monaco is richly appealing, and I am not referring to what is available to the "moneyed" who reside there. The tournament's history is equally eclectic. It seems in 1919, the first tournament after WW I was held on two clay courts somewhere near the Grand Hôtel de Paris. It was played on the roof of the Beausoleil L'Auto Riviera garage in 1920 and '21... while La Festa Country Club, with its three tennis courts, clubhouse and practice walls, hosted the event ... with assorted names including the Monaco Championships... Beausoleil Championships... Monte-Carlo The Third Meeting... the Monte-Carlo Easter Tournament... from 1922 until 1928.

In 1925, French star Suzanne Lenglen, who had not played Monte-Carlo for several years, decided to participate... following the tournament George Butler, a wealthy American who was a long-time resident of the Principality and a tennis enthusiast concluded, "Her status deserves a Jewel not a simple roof on top of a garage"... a meaningful statement about the player known as "La Divine" (The Goddess).

Butler campaigned, along with The Société des Bains de Mer (SBM) which owned the La Festa Country Club, to have a more suitable facility developed. His Serene Highness Prince Louis II, realizing the significant appeal of the French Riveria, decided to invest up to 100 million Francs to create an elegant club with tennis courts... The Principality did not have the land for such an undertaking, so SBM purchased 8.6 acres in St. Roman (Roquebrune-Cap-Martin) overlooking the harbor for what became the Monte-Carlo Country Club.

Charles Letrosne, recognized as a standard-setting Art Deco architect, designed the glorious venue, which 1,500 laborers worked continuously for more than six months to complete. The 20 courts, two or three to a level facing the ocean, were arranged on terraces separated by magnificent flowerbeds and cypress trees.

On February 27, 1928, Prince Louis II invited King Gustav V of Sweden, the Duke of Connaught, Prince Nicolas of Greece, the Grand Duchess Hélène and the Grand Duke André of Russia, to the opening, but the Monte-Carlo Country Club didn't officially become the MCCC until December of that year. A publication observed that though inspired by Lenglen, it was Butler's "...brainchild."

The club's panache increased after Grace Kelly, the movie star, married Prince Rainier in 1956 and became Princess Grace of Monaco. An avid player and tennis fan, she presented the men's trophy to Björn Borg after his victories in 1977, '79 and '80. Her son Prince Albert regularly presents the men's singles trophy, sometimes accompanied by Princess Charlene, his wife.

Driving from Beaulieu-sur-Mer, which is five miles from Monaco and where I stayed during my time on the French Riviera... and passing Villefranche-sur-Mer, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the way to Nice, I remember taking the "Route du Bord de Mer" (the "Seaside Road" or Basse Corniche), where speed and horn honking seemed to be more important than having a driver's license. No matter the amount of congestion there were "out of nowhere" lane changes when traffic was bumper to bumper... "Horn Use" was a blaring reminder that caution could not be abandoned to glance at the sights. Once Nice proper neared "Pay Attention" flashed like a red signal light because of the multitude of cars crowding the one entry way.

Returning to Beaulieu in the evening (and having not attended the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Chandler, Arizona), I would take the easier drive and use the Grande Corniche... an improvement to the Roman Road called Via Julia Augusta that Napoleon I built... twisting around the mountain cliffsides, it was the most scenic route... though the Moyenne Corniche (Middle road) was the quickest.

Gloria Butler, George's daughter, is the doyenne of Monte-Carlo tennis history. Raised in the Principality, she was good enough to play the Ladies' Doubles at The Championships in 1954 with US countrywoman Barbara Bradley. They lost in the first round to tournament winners Louise Brough and Margaret duPont of the US... But she gained notoriety the first day, June 6th, before stepping on the grass when she was photographed wearing a sleek leopard patterned cotton dress.

At Roland Garros in 1955, she teamed with Totta Zehden of West Germany in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 first round loss to Lea Pericoli and Chiara Ramorino of Italy.

Following WWII, she funded a portion of the Monte-Carlo Country Club's war damage restoration... The Butler Cup, the men's singles trophy, was named for her father... The doubles winners receive the Coupe de la Ville de Monaco, sponsored by the City of Monaco...

Butler was unrivaled when it came being Monte-Carlo's ambassador for decades... She served as the Tournament Chairman for some time. But her reputation was augmented by organizing the annual Wednesday evening, "Gala, La Grande Nuit de Tennis... Players' Revue" ... the famed cabaret performances were storied... None more than 1969 when Pancho Segura played Tarzan and Fred Stolle and John Newcombe beguiled as Shirley Temple and Marlene Dietrich.

In 1953 Gladys Heldman founded World Tennis Magazine, a seminal publication... Butler, listed on the Masthead as an International Writer, covered Europe... A regular contributor, she was a skilled wordsmith... her description of an Egyptian artist drawing Budge Patty, the 1950 Roland-Garros and The Championships winner, supports the claim, "...One half of the tall young man was dressed in tennis garb with a racquet in one hand; the other half was impeccable in full evening dress, with a cigarette in his fingers."

Bill Tilden of the US won the Monte-Carlo men's title in 1930. After playing professionally, he began teaching and Butler became one of his students. A loyal friend, he called her "Angel Child", because she did not abandon him after homosexual accusations surfaced in the 1940s and '50s. In fact, she rented a duplex for them in California allowing Tilden to have his own living area.

The magnificently named George Whiteside Hillyard of Great Britain won the inaugural Monte-Carlo Lawn Tennis International men's title. The women's championship round established the tournament's whimsy. K. Booth of Great Britain and Mlle Guillon of France were the contestants... but their first names along with the match score remain unknown.

The domination of Reginald and Laurence Doherty doesn't... Following Hillyard, the British brothers won the next ten men's championships... By count-Reginald earned six and Laurence four, along with being a two-time finalist. Anthony Wilding of New Zealand, after his first victory in 1908, ran off four straight from 1911 to '14... WWI halted competition until 1919 and Wilding was killed when a shell struck the dugout on the frontline where he was imbedded during the battle of Aubers Ridge in Neuve-Chapelle, France on May 9, 1915.

The early women's competition was dominated by players with dominant names such as Gladys (also called Gwendoline) Eastlake-Smith, Rosamund Salusbury and Dorothea Chambers (née Douglass) up until WWI.

Thereafter it was the "Suzanne and Bunny Show..." as Suzanne Lenglen won three titles and Elizabeth (Bunny) Ryan of the US won four (and was also a five-time finalist). They were the stars from 1919 until Simonne Mathieu, Lenglen's French countrywoman, became the winner or finalist seven times between 1930 and '39.

Post WWI, Gordon Lowe of Great Britain and Henri Cochet of France were three-time winners... Béla von Kehrling of Hungary, Bunny Austin of Great Britain and Gottfried von Cramm of Germany were two-time champions... but Giovanni Mino Balbi Di Robecco of Italy, the 1922 titlist, had the "Best Name..."

Though Map Quest isn't needed to determine that Monte-Carlo isn't part of France... Max Décugis' 1910 men's singles triumph is acknowledged as the first by a Frenchman. Henry Cochet drew attention for "Les Bleus", winning 1928, '29 and '31.

Coincidently, in 1939 Pierre Pellizza defeated Yvon Petra, in an all-French contest, 8-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Following WWII, he downed Petra, by a closely similar score, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in 1946.

Adding to the Monte-Carlo backstory... what became the fabled adidas Stan Smith tennis shoe in 1971 was originally called the "adidas Robert Haillet". It was introduced in 1965 honoring Haillet, the 1958 and '59 winner.

Pierre Darmon, the champion in 1962, was the last Frenchman to lift the Butler Cup when he won again in 1963.

French women were way ahead of the men...Marguerite Chalier was the 1898 Monte-Carlo champion the second year the women's competition was played... and Brigitte Simon was the last Frenchwomen to capture the Women's Singles in 1980.

Virginia Ruzici of Romania dropped the curtain on the women's championship defeating Bonnie Gadusek of the US, 6-2, 7-6, in 1982.

Zsuzsa Körmöczy, a Hungarian Jew, who hid from the Germans throughout WWII, matched her survivor zeal and won the Monte-Carlo Women's Singles six times between 1948 and 1962.

In the June 1953 issue of World Tennis Magazine, in a story titled "The Tennis Story Behind The Iron Curtain", Gloria Butler wrote "...And then there is Suzy Körmöczy, women's champion of Hungary. Suzy, in my humble opinion, could have been one |of the truly great players of this generation. She toured Europe in 1948 with the Hungarian team, and in her last appearance in Brussels before returning to Hungary, she disposed successively of (Helen) Rihbany, (Shirley) Fry and (Doris) Hart. She was then only twenty-two.

"Suzy's husband (Eugen Branny) was Jewish and tried unsuccessfully to find a good job in Europe in preference to returning home. Unable to do so, they made the mistake of going back. To add to their difficulties, Suzy had a baby, which is now held behind whenever she is allowed out for tournament play. At six years of age, the little girl will be taken away from her and placed in a Communist school.

"In 1951, the team plus captain came to Wimbledon. I hadn't seen Suzy for several years, so naturally we had much to discuss. But I was baffled by her indifferent attitude. After several attempts to engage her in conversation, I gave up.

"One day, I wandered into the ladies' dressing room. Suzy was there and, for the first time, spoke to me with her old warmth. The one place that the ever-present captain couldn't follow was the women's dressing room! In 1952, the Hungarians came down to play in the tournament at Monte Carlo where Suzy won the women's singles. During the tournament, we always give a big tennis dance, and I must confess we were somewhat loath to invite such an upstanding communist as the Hungarian captain to such an affair. However, the team begged me to invite him for reasons they would not at the time divulge. The captain came and quietly enjoyed himself all evening. When the time came for him to leave, he politely thanked me and was later known to have said, "There must be good in people that can enjoy themselves in such an unaffected way.

"The Hungarian team was afraid that one of the athletes allowed out from the Iron Curtain countries to compete in the Olympic games at Helsinki might elect to stay out, thus removing their own chance of competing at Wimbledon. So when (Dragutin) Mitić and (Milan) Branović, remained in France in the spring of 1952, I knew I would not see the Hungarians at Wimbledon. Sure enough, they were notable by their absence."

I have known Gail Sherriff as Gail Chanfreau, Gail Lovera and now as Gail Benedetti. Born in the Sydney suburb of Bondi, the Australian took up residence in France in 1968. We became friends in the 1990s when I was writing about international junior tennis development efforts.

Lovera, working for Fédération Française de Tennis, was guiding an all-star cast of talented girls' including Amélie Cocheteux, Nathalie Dechy, Amélie Mauresmo and Anne-Gaëlle Sidot. Annually we met at Roland-Garros and The Championships... visited during practice sessions and watched matches... She was an open book when it came to analyzing girls on the way up... What's more, she was also flourishing as an International Tennis Federation senior competitor.

A Monte-Carlo sensation from 1967 through 1978, (as Sherriff, Sherriff Chanfreau and Sherriff Lovera), Benedetti said of those days, "In 1971, I defeated Betty Stove in three sets to win the women's title. In 1974, I won again defeating Heide Orth and then in 1975, I beat Helga Masthoff, 3-6 7-5 6-2. In 1978, I was a finalist against Brigitte Simon."

She added, "I won the doubles in 1967 as Sherriff with Joan Cottrill and the next year with my sister, Carol. In 1970, as Chanfreau, I was the champion with Françoise Dürr and in 1974 with Rosie Darmon, then as Sherriff, we were finalists in 1976."

Benedetti admitted, "I loved playing the Monte-Carlo tournament. Firstly, the courts, the clubhouse and the dressing rooms were really outstanding...and there were always social events like the "Gloria Butler SHOW", along the fashion parade with Princess Grâce, who was really an exceptional host.

"All the players took part in the rehearsals in the evenings after the matches..."

Perhaps "Principality Play" primed her for Roland-Garros where she was a singles quarterfinalist in 1968 and '71 and a four-time doubles winner... with Dürr in 1967, '70 and '71 and with Fiorella Bonicelli of Uruguay in 1976. She was a doubles finalist with Katja Burgemeister of West Germany in 1974 and with Lesley Turner of Australia in '78. Adding to her Roland-Garros totals, she was a Mixed Doubles semifinalist in the 1971 with Bob Carmichael of Australia.

Benedetti, an entertaining conversationalist, has a wonderful sense of humor... and would appreciate the British praise offered by Rex Bellamy, The Times pipe smoking tennis correspondent. He used words to paint columns, as this brings out, "...Gail, contested the French doubles final six times with four partners – and, after two marriages, under three different names."

The Monte-Carlo men's ledger is all Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard won 11 titles, and his 12 finals are the most played. Winning 8 in a row from 2005-'12 is another record. His 79 matches played, and 46 consecutive matches won are tournament standards... his 73 wins holds similar status.

Željko Franulović, who won Monte-Carlo in 1970, became the Tournament Director in 2005. The Croatian remained in the position until 2022... During his tenure he told the ATP, "After having won the event for the eighth straight year in 2012, it was obvious that Monte-Carlo was turning into a success story for Rafa, to put it mildly. Since he won his first event in 2005, the year I first became the Tournament Director, it was sort of a success story for me too. I said to Rafa, half-jokingly, in the locker room that year, during a rain delay, ‘Hey Rafa, it seems to me that our destinies are linked. As long as you keep winning, I should be okay as well. I count on you to win this event, otherwise I get fired!'"

Franulović added, "Rafa and the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters will go down in the history books as a very special and unique relationship, between the player and the tournament – simple as that."

Bob and Mike Bryan of the US are the "Doubles Nadal" having claimed six team wins.

The Casino de Monte-Carlo, with the lush Place du Casino square in front, earned James Bond movie fame when the setting was used in "Never Say Never Again" in 1983 and "GoldenEye" in 1995.

I have spent many an afternoon in the plaza seated among the flowers and fountains... mesmerized by those, many of whom were dashing, on their way to an exclusive shop or headed to the casino. Back then... entry was around $20. Salle Europe, the main gambling room, featured blackjack, roulette, punto banco (baccarat), poker (Texas hold'em) and trente et quarante. Slot machines were in Salles Renaissance and Amérique. I remember being surprised to learn that citizens of Monaco cannot enter the gaming rooms or work at the casino.

Did I play...only on the tennis courts...

Stefanos Tsitsipas, last year's men's champion, also claimed the Butler Cup in 2021 and '22. After his initial victory, he talked about the family importance of what he had accomplished since his mother Julia Apostoli (née Salnikova) won the 1981 Junior Girls' title, playing for the Soviet Union before marrying Greek tennis coach Apostolos Tsitsipas and becoming a Greek citizen... And she now resides in the Principality.

With its unparalleled history, this year's Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, promises to add to the 118 Monte-Carlo recollections...