20 years ago today, the final of the ATP Monte Carlo Masters tournament was contested on the red clay courts of Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France.
World number 4, and that years Australian Open runner up Yevgeny Kafelnikov, was top seed, with defending champion Gustavo Kuerten second.
The tournament saw the first round exit of two unseeded players, Marat Safin and Roger Federer. Safin later in the year would win the US Open, and 18 year old Federer would reach the round of sixteen at Roland Garros en route to a reasonable career.
The performance of seeds was something which made Monte Carlo 2000 stand apart. Kuerten’s defence lasted just one match, and his departure in round one was duplicated by fellow seeds Nicolas Lapentti (4), Marcelo Rios (5), Greg Rusedski (10), Younes El Aynaoui (11), Tommy Haas (13), Mark Philippoussis (14) and Stefan Koubek (16).
The second round said farewell to Kafelnikov, Magnus Norman (3), Thomas Enqvist (6), Tim Henman (7), and Mariano Zabaleta (15).
So the round of sixteen included just three seeds - Cedric Pioline (8), Alex Corretja (9) and Albert Costa (12).
The trio forged through to the quarters, where the Spanish pair were done over by Dominik Hrbaty and Karim Alami, leaving Pioline as the sole seed.
The Frenchman defeated first Moroccan Alami, and then Slovakian Hrbaty in a best of five sets final 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(6).
